Civil Surgeon’s office in Ropar raises stink

Arun Sharma

Tribune News Service

Ropar, January 13

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat Mission seems to have made no impact on the office of the Civil Surgeon here.

The stench emanating from choked drains in toilets have made it difficult for the staff to work. To make matters worse, the toilets do not have doors.

The staff have asked the authorities to repair the bathrooms or at least instal doors, but their demand has fallen on deaf ears.

The dilapidated toilets are not the only area of concern. Employees say the electrical wiring needs to be replaced, as there have been several instances of short-circuit in the past couple of years. Besides, there are cracks in the double-storey building.

An official said the MC did not have funds for the repair work, claiming it was responsible for the upkeep of hospitals and had nothing to do with the Civil Surgeon’s office. As for the PWD, it wanted funds from the Directorate of Health Services (DHS), before taking up the work and the DHS, on its part, had not made any provision in the Budget for it, he said.

Officiating Civil Surgeon Dr Avtar Singh said: “Since July 2016, several letters have been written to the authorities, demanding repair of the building. But nothing has been done. I will try to arrange funds for repairing at least the toilets.”