Ward watch: Choked sewer lines add to woes of Ward No. 77 residents

Charanjit Singh Teja

Amritsar, September 2

The residents of Ward No. 77 are at receiving end due to the choked of sewer lines. The manholes can be seen overflowing and sewer water gets accumulated in streets. The ward comprises the Islamabad, Indrapuri and Kot Khalsa area.

The residents of Indrapuri have been deprived of sewerage and water supply for the past several years. During the last five years, the area councillor made efforts and made sewer lines functional in the area. The sewer lines were laid under Rs 100-crore Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA) project in 2015. However, the sewer lines are non-functional due to poor workmanship.

Due to inappropriate level of sewer lines in the area, the waste water does not drain from the area. The municipal corporation (MC) has made efforts to repair sewer lines but to no avail.

Although all the MC wards in the South Constituency face the problem of choked sewer, the situation is worse in the Indrapuri area.

The area residents have held regular demonstrations against the MC and the government for clean drinking water.

Surinder Kumar, a resident said, “We have been demanding clean potable water for the last several years but the government is unable to provide it. Now, the sewer lines have got choked. We have asked the MC for desilting the lines but no one shows concern.”

Veer Singh, another resident said, “Besides contaminated potable water supply and sewer water accumulation on roads, sanitation is one of the major issues of the ward. The solid waste management company is not collecting garbage regularly. The company vehicle visits the area once a week. The residents are forced to dump garbage on vacant plots or corners of streets. Due to poor sanitation, there are patients of dengue, high fever and eye flu in almost every house.”