120 Feet Road plays protagonist every time monsoon hits bastis

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, July 23

The arrival of monsoon here is looked upon as a curse rather than a reason for merriment. And they have every reason to retire the rains to their apathy, for decades, the bastis — Basti Gujan, Basti Danishmandan and Basti Sheikh — have been deluged in water every time the rain has lashed their dwellings.

The 120 Feet Road at Basti Gujan stands out, and is posing as the troublemaker for the surrounding areas. The inundation here impacts the other two bastis directly and severly. The landscape witnessed - homes which have developed cracks, there are areas where people can't walk out and stretches that tax all strength of a car upon wading through them.

There has been no reason to enjoy the nature's wonder here till date.

Prof Veena Arora, who lives at the intersection of the Basti Gujan and Basti Sheikh, near the Mahant Agya Singh Park, says, "A year ago, I made a video of my house inundated with water, but the situation is exactly the same this year as well." The park is a darling for her. It was built in remeberance of the freedom fighter, who happens to be her relative, but unfortunately it is also submerged.

"The area is inundated again. We got out on cars and my own car has also been stuck in this water on the 120-feet road once. Despite assurances - and much effort has been put into it - the problem of waterlogging has not been solved. Out on the road it is even worse," she shares, as she tells her side of the story.

Gurpreet, a resident from near Babrik chowk, has more to add. "Just a day of rain and area is undated. The lower halves of the houses are forever damp and moist due to the standing water. There are houses which have developed cracks. Even a few hours of rains turn the area in into a living hell," he says, before going on,"Traffic jams are regular. But the administration seems to nap over our problems. We can only go out in four-wheelers, but before we know it gets stuck. Those walking or on a one-wheeler have to compulsively wade through waters." The waters also poses threat of vectors and contamination during the already ongoing pandemic.

While a project proposed to drain the waters to the Kala Sanghian drain is ray of hope hope, but tired with decades of politicians' lip service, residents are cynical of the fresh plan. MLA Sushil Rinku says: "The basti area earlier used to have a huge pond where water from three bastis used to accumulate - Basti Danishmandan, Basti Nau and Basti Gujan. This area has 69 inch sewerage pipes from 120 ft road to Babrik chowk and further up. This problem has been here for the past 13-14 years. In 2007, the sewrage pipeline of north constituency was also attached here due to which the overflow happened and problems piled up. Now, a project has been proposed where all water from the area shall be routed via pipes to 10,000 liter capacity tanks at Valmiki Bhawan. All the collected water shall be routed to Kala Sanghian Drain. The process is on. The project is estimated to be completed in an year's time."

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