Provide storm water drainage facilities in all city areas

What steps should be taken to tackle the water-logging menace in the city?

Clean sewer pipelines on a daily basis

Millions of people from all over the world visit our country every year and a majority of them due to our religious importance leading to spirituality. The basic teaching of every religion is to clean your inner-self. If we follow the same formula and keep our roads and streets clean, the problem of water-logging will automatically disappear. If we employ workers to clean roads and streets on a daily basis, they should also be asked to clean sewer pipelines. They should also bear in mind what Martin Luther King Jr said years ago, “If a man is called to be street sweeper, he should sweep street as Michelangelo painted or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote novel.” Now, the second villain in this dirty movie is the local town planning department, which allows residences to be converted into hotels in narrow lanes of the city. Just imagine what will happen to underground sewerage pipeline connected to a residence meant for five persons converted into a hotel with a capacity of 30 persons. There is no dearth of such hotels in the city.

Naresh Mohan Johar

Segregate wet garbage from dry one

Water-logging becomes a nuisance for city residents and commuters during the monsoon season. Sometimes, there are big potholes in roads and lids of most sewerage systems also are missing which are an open invite to accidents. Commuters have to drive their vehicles in knee-deep water, resulting in mishaps. Some parts of our cities have drainage systems that are almost too old. They are not fit for handling high pressure of rainwater that flows through them, resulting in water-logging. Then, places such as underpasses have no slope for water to flow out, so it just accumulates there on both sides. The accumulated water starts stinking after a few days and becomes a breeding-ground for mosquitoes. Storm water is the technical town planning term for excess rainwater. In an environment where there were no buildings and pavements, for example in a forest, the excess rainwater merely seeps into the soil. But in a city, because of concrete surfaces, storm water cannot seep into the ground naturally. Hence, it needs an outlet to flow out. But many of these outlets in Indian cities are choked by garbage or silt. Therefore, the storm water finds no way to flow out and collects right there. A solution to the problem of water-logging lies in segregating wet garbage from dry one. If people start separating garbage, it will take care of the problem to a large extent. Start segregating waste in your respective homes before disposing it off. The dry waste such as empty cans and glass bottles can be sold. Whenever you dump garbage anywhere, it is bound to find its way into drains, choking them.

Amarjit Kalsi

Lack of political behind menace

The city which was known “Sifti Da Ghar’ has turned into “Gandgee Da Ghar”. All development plans seem ill-conceived and with lack of inter-departmental coordination. In the past seven decades of my life in the city, the situation has not changed for the better as leaders do not appear to care for the well being of residents. The lack of political will is responsible for the plight of residents.

Gursharan Singh Kainth

Authorities must pump out excess water

The perennial problem of waterlogging has been inconveniencing city residents for a long time. The malady is caused by a combination of excess rainfall, poor external and internal drainage and the inability of soil to absorb water. Whenever the city receives a spell of light or heavy rain, it witnesses waterlogging in almost all areas, especially the low-lying areas. The problem also poses a health hazard to residents. It further results in loss of business, spreading of waterborne diseases, besides making several facilities and services topsy-turvy. The civic body must pay heed to the bad state of drainage system. It should pump out surplus water with manpower and machinery. Enough funds should be earmarked to clean the drainage and sewerage system before the monsoon season sets in. Provision should be made for rainwater harvesting. Areas prone to waterlogging should be taken care of well in advance rather than rushing at the eleventh hour. The civic body should provide toll free numbers to residents on which they can update the situation regarding waterlogging in their respective areas. Residents should be made aware that they must not throw garbage, waste and other food particles into the sewerage and drainage system as it leads to choking of the drains. De-silting must be carried out regularly. Encroachments in pathways of natural drainage channels of the city must be removed. Creation of more green spaces is the crying need of the hour as it would soak water naturally. The dysfunctional stormwater drainage system heaps misery on residents. It should be repaired and made functional. Surface drainage, which is useful for removing excess water, must be given a serious thought. In addition to these, effective monitoring, emergency response, meticulous planning, proper warning and timely response operations in waterlogged areas like Putlighar, Mall Road, Lawrence Road, GT road stretch near Khalsa College and other such places are required. Moreover, technically trained and qualified workforce ought to be engaged to deal with the perennial.

Tarsem S Bumrah

Scientific disposal of waste must be done

The following steps can help tackle the water-logging menace. Absolute ban on plastic would go a long way. Plastic waste leads to choking in drainage. There should be world-class mechanism for garbage disposal. Urban solid waste has become a real problem in almost every city. Collection and scientific disposal should be done on a priority basis. A single authority must be given the responsibility for drainage. Trees must be planted on mounds. The authorities must create awareness on harms of throwing garbage in the open. The road infrastructure must be improved and potholes eliminated.

Rohit Kumar Sehdev

Enforce ban on use of plastic bags

To address the problem of water-logging during the monsoon, garbage disposal system, which is the root cause of the problem, must be streamlined. The storm water drains must to be cleaned before the onset of the rainy season. The ban on the use of plastic bags, which lead to choking of drains, should be strictly enforced by the administration. All low-lying areas should be identified for immediate remedial measures to prevent accumulation of rainwater. New buildings in the city must be approved only if they have facilities for rainwater harvesting. It can both prevent blockage of drains and water shortage.

Shashi Kiran

Use latest technology to solve menace

It is no more a hidden fact that water-logging of our roads has taken a toll on residents. Since decades, it has been testing the nerves of the locals during the monsoon season. The tall claims of the authorities to boasting the infrastructure get drawn deeply in the water-logged streets and roads on the onset of the monsoon. I remember when I was a kid, I would wade through a long water-logged street with friends to reach the school. After a period of thirty years, situation remains the same. The authorities concerned must rise to the occasion and show grit to sort out the perennial issue which toppled the life of all those families whose bread and butter winner have fallen prey to the potholes and opens manholes, thanks to the flooded streets and roads. The need of the hour is to make use of latest technology to solve the menace. The basic amenities need to be provided to residents to make them feel inclusive, safe and secure. It is my belief that with young leaders making their mark in politics and bureaucracy, our next generation will definitely rise to a new dawn and such issues would have become things of the years gone by.

Simranjeet Singh Saini

QUESTION

Even as residents are increasingly taking to cycling, there is a demand from the residents to create lanes for the non-motorised vehicles or special cycling zones. What do you think is the best way out for the MC to encourage cycling?

Suggestions in not more than 200 words can be sent to amritsardesk@tribunemail.comby Thursday (July 30).