Solan Ward Watch Housing Board: Tall claims, but sewerage worn out

Ambika Sharma

Solan, March 11

The sewerage system is lying defunct in the Housing Board ward of the Solan Municipal Corporation (MC), with the pipelines laid about 42 years ago having worn out.

Since the ward lies on the outskirts of Solan town, it has seen haphazard expansion of residential colonies. With little space available in the interior areas, the ward has often attracted the attention of new investors.

The old wornout lines were not only inadequate to bear the load of the increasing population, but also required immediate replacement. The problem of leakage was common and this added to the filth in the residential colonies.

Though a few crore rupees were set aside in 1994 and 2008 and a sewerage scheme was commissioned for the town after dividing it into five zones, only Zone B could got the facility. The Housing Board was among several other areas of the town which were supposed to get sewerage connectivity later. The paucity of funds stalled the work, even as residents waited for an overhaul of the old network.

A consolidated report for a Rs 175 crore project was submitted before the state government in September 2023 to extend the sewerage connectivity to the entire MC area under the Namami Gange project. The Jal Shakti Department, which looks after the sewerage connectivity, was hopeful of getting the requisite funds soon.

Several hurdles like presence of private land and water supply schemes hindered the expansion of the sewerage network in the ward. Though efforts were made to acquire land from a private individual to connect the Housing Board colonies with the sewerage network, it did not materialise due to the lack of adequate funds.

The Jal Shakti Department has been trying to convince villagers that adequate gap would be maintained from the Chamat Barech and Lavighat water supply schemes, which supply water to Saproon and adjoining areas, while laying pipes for sewerage once the funds were made available. A private individual could also be compensated by providing him with connectivity to the nearby areas with a bridge if he agreed to let the pipes pass through his land.

The officials were hopeful that they would manage to provide sewerage connectivity by overcoming these hurdles once the Central funds were made available.

The ruling Congress had promised sewerage connections in its poll manifesto before the civic body polls in April 2021. It was, however, yet to see light of the day even after three years.