Drinking water supply, other civic amenities elude Preetnagar locality in Tarn Taran

Around 100 families of Preetnagar in Muradpur locality of Tarn Taran town have been deprived of a drinking water supply and other basic civic amenities for years. Muradpur locality is home to a slum population and it is the same locality about 90 residents of which were found to be suffering from jaundice during their medical check-up conducted a few years ago. Fearing that more people of the same locality must be suffering from such diseases, the administration did not conduct a medical check-up here after that.

Meena Kaur, Seema Kaur, Hardeep Singh, Nimrata Kaur, Salinder Kaur, Sandeep Singh, Joga Singh, Gulshan Singh and others, all residents of Preetnagar, narrated their saga of sufferings. They said clean water is not being supplied to the residents of Preetnagar. They said due to being deprived of a drinking water supply, they are forced to drink contaminated water even from borewells dug at home. They said some of them have contracted serious diseases due to the consumption of unsafe drinking water for years.

They said Das Singh (45), a residents of the locality, died a month ago due to stomach diseases and recently, Sarwan Singh (47), another unlucky guy of the locality, died a week ago due to a lung problem. Many other residents are continuously taking medicine for stomach diseases.

Residents said that the unbearable stench emanating from sewage leaking from the pipes at every point in the locality has made the life of the residents a living hell. People also accuse the Municipal Council of never getting the sewer pipes cleaned. They said broken sewer lids, posing a threat to commuters, lead to frequent accidents here.

They said the MC has also not made arrangements to ensure sanitation in their area. Baljinder Singh, Superintendent of the Municipal Council, said they will write to higher officials of the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board after collecting information to ensure the provision of drinking water supply to the locality. He said he himself along with other officials of the MC will visit the spot to collect detailed information about the problems the locality residents facing.