Delay in desilting of sewer lines leads to problem

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 21

The operation and maintenance wing of the MC looks after 22 disposal plants, which pump the sanitary sewerage in routine to drain out dirty water to nullahs.

The pressure on the sanitary sewerage lines multiplies several times during rain. To check the pressure, the MC needs to conduct desilting of sewer lines before monsoon. In the absence of desilting, the sewerage system collapses due to heavy rain.

A large number of sewer lines are almost five-decade old, which were laid for residential localities. The surrounding areas of the Golden Temple and the bus terminal have been converted from residential localities to commercial hubs. More than 1,000 hotels, inns and commercial establishments have emerged in past few decades.

Ironically, the sewer lines are still narrow and have a limited capacity. The government has failed to upgrade the sanitary system and keep a check on hotels.

The Municipal Corporation doesn’t have machines and tools for the desilting of 1,020-km-long sewer lines. It hires some private firms to initiate the work. Super sucker machines are used for removing silts from sewer lines wider than 30 inches.

These machines are equipped with CCTVs which record the suction process.

The MC installs tractor-operated machines in medium lines and it cleans sewer lines in streets and localities manually. Despite a ban on manual scavenging, MC forces its sewermen to enter the manholes.

This year, the MC failed to initiate desilting of main sewer lines till mid of July. The city faced the waterlogging problem during the recent rainfall.

Kuljeet Singh, a resident, said, “Delay in the tendering process has resulted in waterlogging. The government has been outsourcing everything. Such emergency services should not be outsourced. The desilting of open drains and sewer lines is one of the core responsibilities of the MC. The civic body should do it on priority.”

Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu said, “We have placed an order to buy super suction machines. We will get two more machines. The sewer lines in streets are working well and there is no complaint of waterlogging in streets. We have cleaned the roadside chambers to drain out rainwater.”