Jalandhar MC’s negligence leads to choked sewers

Jalandhar, June 11

Choked sewers in several parts of the city have resulted in the flooding of streets with sewage, making life miserable for residents.

Situation to worsen during monsoon

This is sheer negligence on part of the contractor and supervisor. Several streets are flooded with dirty water. The situation will worsen during the monsoon. Strict action should be taken against officials and contractors to prevent wastage of public money on reconstructing roads damaged due to their negligence. Rajan Sharda, President of Bhartiya Sarvahit Parishad

Manholes being traced using GPS

MC Commissioner Gautam Jain said while this issue had previously been a concern, it had now been resolved by instructing contractors and officials concerned to trace the location of manholes using GIS/GPS technology before constructing roads. He said the specific problem in the Gazi Gulla area stems from sewer lines laid about 35 years ago, making corrections challenging. In other areas, location of manholes was being successfully traced with the help of GPS.

Residents attribute this problem to the negligence of Municipal Corporation (MC) officials. They say during construction of roads, contractors covered several sewer manholes, which not only disrupted maintenance work but also resulted in the wastage of public money as some of these roads had to be dug up to uncover the manholes.

Rajan Sharda, president of the Bhartiya Sarvahit Parishad, who claims to have brought the issue to the notice of MC Commissioner Gautam Jain, said sewer manholes on the road from BMC Chowk to Urban Estate Phase-II market via Cool Road had been covered, contrary to regulations that mandate manholes be accessible at the road level before paving.

“This is sheer negligence on part of the contractor and supervisor. Several streets are flooded with dirty water. The situation will worsen during the monsoon,” said Sharda. He demanded strict action against officials and contractors to prevent wastage of public money on reconstructing roads damaged due to their negligence.

Bhushan Luther, another resident, said the Gazi Gulla area had been facing sewer blockages for the past two years because manholes were untraceable despite extensive efforts.

He said similar problem were witnessed in the backside of leader factory in the Industrial Area, Mathura Nagar on Sodal Road, in front of Gurdwara Namdev and from Alaska Chowk to BSF Chowk. “Despite our repeated reminders to MC officials in this regard, nothing has been done,” he said.

Kabir Malhotra from Guru Nanakpura pointed out that overflowing sewer had severely damaged the road in their area, making manholes untraceable. “Residents are suffering due to MC’s negligence, while officials make perfunctory visits, assure action and then forget about the problem,” he said.

The residents demanded that accountability should be fixed and an inquiry be conducted into the matter so as to ensure that contractors do not repeat such negligence while constructing roads.

Meanwhile, MC Commissioner Gautam Jain said while this issue had previously been a concern, it had now been resolved by instructing contractors and officials concerned to trace the location of manholes using GIS/GPS technology before constructing roads. He said the specific problem in the Gazi Gulla area stems from sewer lines laid about 35 years ago, making corrections challenging. In other areas, location of manholes was being successfully traced with the help of GPS.