Uproar over waterlogging at Rohtak civic body meeting
Ravinder Saini
Rohtak, July 5
The Municipal Corporation’s General House meeting was adjourned following an uproar created by councillors over the flood-like situation that emerged in the city during the first shower of the monsoon last week.
Reply sought from PHE officials
Other councillors and I prominently raised the issue at the meeting. We sought a reply from the PHE officials about their failure in removing the rainwater but they failed to give any satisfactory reply. I have resigned from the post of the chairman, Water and Sewage Grievances Redressal Committee. Suresh Chander, bjp mc from ward 6
Both civic bodies responsible
Cleaning the drainage system along the shops is the responsibility of the MC while the PHE Department is responsible for desilting the sewer lines and draining out the accumulated water, but both failed to discharge their duties in the city. — Bhart Bhushan Batra, Congress MLA
Meeting postponed
The meeting was postponed after the councillors demanded presence of top officers such as ACS, Chief Engineer of the PHE and Urban Local Bodies at the meeting so that appropriate action can be ensured against the erring officials. Manmohan Goyal, Mayor
The meeting lasted around two hours but no item included in the agenda was discussed as the waterlogging issue dominated the discussion. The BJP councillors blamed officials of the Public Health and Engineer (PHE) Department for the poor drainage system and losses suffered by residents of low-lying areas due to waterlogging for around 48 hours.
Suresh Chander, BJP MC from Ward 6, resigned from the post of the chairman, Water and Sewage Grievances Redressal Committee, pleading that the PHE officials did not pay any heed towards desilting the sewerage lines and strengthening the water drainage system despite being requested several times for the same.
“Other councillors and I prominently raised the issue of waterlogging as soon as the meeting started. We sought a reply from the PHE officials about their failure in removing the rainwater but they failed to give any satisfactory reply. I have resigned from the post of the chairman, Water and Sewage Grievances Redressal Committee, which comprises councillors and the PHE officials,” Suresh said.
Decrying the PHE officials’ functioning, Dimple Jain, another BJP MC, also warned that she too would resign from her post if appropriate action was not taken against the officials guilty for the flood-like situation in the city. She also submitted a letter to Mayor Manmohan Goyal at the meeting in this respect. She also accused a PHE official of not paying any heed towards public grievances of her ward.
At the meeting, Congress MLA Bhart Bhushan Batra held officials of both — the PHE Department and the MC — equally responsible for the flood-like situation in the city. “Cleaning the water drainage system developed along the shops is the responsibility of the MC while the PHE Department is responsible for desilting of sewer lines and draining out accumulated water, but both failed to discharge their duties resulting in waterlogging in the city,” said the MLA.
Batra presented a proposal before the House to ensure the restoration of pond at Appu Ghar instead of developing any commercial complex there stating that rainwater could be drained out in the pond to avoid flood-like situation on Chhotu Ram Chowk, Subhash Road and nearby areas. “The proposal was passed by the House unanimously,” he added.
Manmohan Goyal, Mayor, said the meeting was postponed after the councillors demanded presence of top officers such as ACS, Chief Engineer of the PHE and Urban Local Bodies at the meeting so that appropriate action could be ensured against the erring officials.
“The meeting is likely to be held next week. No item was discussed at the meeting except waterlogging issues raised by the councillors,” said he, adding that around 240 items were included in the agenda of the meeting.
