Fund crunch hits repair of sewers

kram Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 16

Lack of funds and non-compliance from the finance department to entertain tenders for the maintenance of the sewerage network project in the Jammu city, have put residents to great hardships.

The underground pipe network, defunct at many places and malfunctioning at others, has led to seepage and overflowing of muck, garbage and stinking filth in mohallas.

Manholes are overflowing at many places in the area and dirty water coming from them leads to waterlogged roads.

“In the ensuing monsoon season, the sewerage system is malfunctioning at many places as muck is pushed over ground, that spreads on to streets and seeps into the houses,” said Bimla Devi, a resident of Old Rehari.

Various manholes on the sewerage network get clogged due to polythene and plastic waste, which push the filth back into lateral pipes and into the houses or damages the manholes.

The overflowing stinking muck spreads in the interiors of the mohallas, polluting the whole area, besides inviting spread of bacteria and breeding of mosquitoes.

The project was taken up by Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) and was completed in 2013, but the problems in its functioning persist.

“We were in charge of laying the system, which we completed in 2013, connecting 34,000 households. The ERA is under no obligation to take up the maintenance as it is the line department — Urban Environmental Engineering Department (UEED) — which has to take up the maintenance,” said Manjeet Kotwal, senior superintendent, ERA.

He said the UEED too had completed its tendering process and submitted it to the state government, but the latter has not yet given its nod, citing lack of funds.

“The finance department, besides showing its inability to arrange funds, is putting a number of queries to the line department, which is delaying the process. However, whenever we get any plaint, we try to solve it on our own.”