Overflowing drains in Ambala's Ward 10, a cause of inconvenience for  residents

Overflowing drains in colonies of Ward 10 in Ambala City have become a cause of inconvenience for residents.

The residents claim that every morning, the drains start overflowing and the water remains stagnant in the streets for three to four hours, creating inconvenience for the commuters.

Lalit Saini, a resident of the Nayi Basti area, said, “Residents have been facing inconvenience due to overflowing drains. Water coming out from the drains, can be seen flowing in front of the shops and houses and people are forced to pass through the waterlogged streets. The municipal corporation should ensure smooth flow of water and timely cleaning of drains.”

Ambala Municipal Corporation House member from Ward 10 Mithun Verma claimed that for the past six months, the drains in the New Basti and Khadiyan Wali Gali, the Choti Sabzi Mandi area, start overflowing every morning and from around 8 am to noon, the water remain in the streets due to which the residents face inconvenience. The commuters, including the elderly, office goers and school-going children are forced to cross the streets with dirty water flowing from the drains.

“Besides this, the sewage is being discharged in a drain in front of Khanna Palace by the Public Health Engineering Department and it was also a reason behind the poor drainage. The drains must be cleared to ensure smooth flow of water the colonies will be waterlogged during the rainy season,” Mithun Verma said.

“I have raised the matter with the officials of the Public Health Engineering Department and the officials of the Ambala Municipal Corporation a number of times but to no avail. Every time they give a new assurance but the situation has not changed. A complaint has been submitted to the Commissioner of the Ambala Municipal Corporation and we are hopeful that the grievance of the public will be resolved soon,” he said.

An official in the Municipal Corporation said the primary cause of the drain overflow in the affected areas is the continuous discharge of sewage water into the drains. A letter has been sent by the Municipal Corporation to the Executive Engineer of the Public Health Engineering Department to cease the discharge of sewage to resolve the issue.

Meanwhile, Joint Commissioner Ambala Municipal Corporation Puneet Kumar said, “A complaint was received and directions have been already issued to the officials concerned to resolve the matter. A matter was also raised with the Public Health Engineering Department to stop the discharge of sewage water into the drains. We will visit the affected areas soon and the issues will be resolved.”