Residents complain against poor sanitation in city

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, September 5

Tall claims of the Municipal Corporation to make Bathinda a clean and green city stand exposed with residents of Udam Singh Nagar, Bangi Nagar, Krishna Nagar and Sanjay Nagar, which happens to be Mayor Balwant Rai Nath’s residential area, ruing lack of cleanliness.

Although under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the Central Government has launched Swachhata-MoUD (Ministry of Urban Development) app for the facilitation of city residents through which people just have to take a photograph of the garbage and upload it on the app. The photograph will reach the MC and within 12 hours, the officials concerned will have to address the complaint. Moreover, after cleaning the information will be sent to the MC Commissioner via e-mail.

But, unfortunately the Central Government’s various initiatives taken in the process to make ‘Swachh Bharat’ a success, the MC failed to provide relief to residents from sewage overflow, accumulation of garbage and stagnant water.

Residents alleged that despite lodging so many complaints regarding the sewage overflow, problems like accumulation of garbage and stagnant water in front of houses had not been fixed by MC employees.

Pradeep Kumar, a resident of Udam Singh Nagar, said, “Though MC officials are aware of accumulation of garbage, sewage overflow and the stray cattle menace, no concrete steps have been taken so far by the authorities concerned.”

Moreover, if somehow MC employees came to fix the sewage overflow problem, the problem of sewage overflow appeared the very next day, he added.

Mohan Kumar, a resident of Sanjay Nagar, said, “Although the MC is making efforts to clean the garbage and sewage problem, but their temporary efforts again rise up in a few days. We need a concrete solution to the problem rather than temporary solutions”.

Faaroq, a resident of Bangi Nagar, Said, “The whole residential area starting from Sanjay Nagar to Udam Singh Nagar and even the adjoining residential area emanates a foul smell and also spreading vector-borne diseases to the residents”.

Moreover, during the rains it is almost impossible to come out from the houses, but with no option left we go out of the houses to earn our daily bread in between knee high accumulation of sewage water. As there is no space for the water disposal due to which the rain and sewage water lay down for many days and start emanating foul smell.

Besides it, despite the fact that the Mayor belongs to this residential area, the sanitation and sewerage condition is pitiable, he added.

Hari Singh, a resident of Krishna Nagar, said, “Sometime the circumstances become so worse that one cannot even breathe. The authority concerned has to sort out the public problem at earliest rather than delaying or ignoring it”.

Mayor Balwant Rain Nath and the municipal councillors of these residential areas said, “We are trying our best to resume the connectivity of sewage to the canal, and moreover we have already called the tenders from various contractors on September 14, to resume the sewage connectivity of these areas”.

“Besides, I will immediately order the authorities concerned to lift garbage from these areas,” he added.