Ruptured sewage pipe near mosque irks visitors

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 15

Alhough the state government spent crores to beautify the surrounding of Golden Temple, the Municipal Corporation (MC) failed to fix leakage of a public urinal, outside the Jama Masjid Jaan Mohammad, a few metres away from the Town Hall building.

The government had renovated the Town Hall Building recently. A Partition Museum was also inaugurated in the same building. A large number of foreign and domestic tourists visit the area.

Ironically, no one has shown concern over the public defecation on wall of the Town Hall building. As people use urinal throughout the day water and urine accumulate on road in front of the mosque.

A nauseating smell emanating from the stretch forces visitors to cover their noses. Nearby shopkeepers and devotees at the mosque are major sufferers.

Earlier, shopkeepers in the area had staged protest against the administration for not fixing leakage of the public urinal but, no one paid heed to their demand.

Mohammad Isa Khan, Maulvi at Jama Masjid Jann Mohammad, said “There is no Muslim population in the area. So, they installed urinals outside the mosque. The stink irritates us round the clock. Muslim visitors in the city, who come to offer Namaz at the mosque, complain but, what can we do. The administration should remove urinals from here.”

Varinder Kumar, a shopkeeper in the area, said, “We are living in hell like conditions in this beautified area. I have met MC officials several times but, they did not remove urinals from here. Now, they are not even interested in repair of the leaking sewage pipe.”

Surjit Singh, president of the Shopkeepers Association in the area said, “The government should remove this urinal or make arrangements to keep it clean. The sewage pipe has been lying broken for past several days. Till now, no one has come to repair it.”