Sewage crisis to broken roads, town grapples with host of civic issues

Despite being a town of great religious significance, Goindwal Sahib is grappling with a host of civic issues. Waste water from the town is being discharged into the Beas. Apparently, neither the administration nor the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) have cared to address the issue of improper disposal of sewage. The situation has become serious as the water of Baoli Sahib — in which hundreds of devotees take holy dip daily — is getting polluted.

Harpinder Singh Gill, a resident of the town, said the administration and residents must take steps to address the issue. The state government did make an effort to install a sewerage system in the town 13 years ago. However, the project is incomplete even as crores have been spent on it.

Moreover, the government has released crores for installation of a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) in the town. The STP will be of no use in the present circumstance when the sewerage system is yet to be installed.

The roads in the town, especially in the industrial complex, are in a dilapidated condition. The locals, especially, entrepreneurs at the industrial complex rue that the railway station of the town is located at Jhender village, 7 km from Goindwal Sahib. They added that the “distant” railway station served no purpose to them.