Abohar residents want MC to solve sewage problem, protest

Raj Sadosh

Abohar, January 29

Residents of Indira Nagari today staged a demonstration in protest against the Municipal Council move to renovate the Mahashya Kripa Ram Marg without addressing the chronic sewage problem.

The road connects the rest of the sub-divisional town with Shivpuri, the main cremation ground that had been beautified by spending crores in the past one decade, but is losing glory due to poor maintenance.

The road is dedicated to Mahashya Kripa Ram, a social activist who used to run a small pan shop.

He had created a history of sorts by carrying hundreds of bodies on his shoulders and rehris for cremation when plague had wreaked havoc in Abohar in 1934.

The Improvement Trust had acquired the municipal council land on both sides of Mahashya Kripa Ram Marg in 1976 to develop the colony, but people having political backing encroached upon the same to raise Indira Nagari; they were given ownership rights in phased manner.

Even as the main sewage line passes through Mahashya Kripa Ram Marg, hundreds of residents of Indira Nagari could not get freedom from sewage problem even when their councillor served as president of the BJP-run Municipal Council for five years.

The protesters said the road had been reconstructed thrice in past one decade. Mourners too have to pass through dirty water that overflows and remain accumulated in the adjoining streets, besides the main road 24x7.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had sanctioned Rs 2 crore as Leader of the Opposition Sunil Jakhar on September 15, 2014, spoke about the pitiable condition of roads connecting two cremation grounds here.

The council has now taken up the work, but it will lead to wastage of precious funds once again if the sewage system was not set in order, the residents said. So far no official has responded to the demand, saying that no funds were available to deal with the sewage problem, they said.