Open House: What steps should the MC take to prevent waterlogging during the monsoon?

Keep areas around homes clean

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It is not for the first time that the city is facing the problem of waterlogging. To deal with the problem resolutely and relieve people of the misery caused by rain, the MC should pull up its socks and take quick action. First and foremost, proper maintenance and renovation of the drainage system must be ensured so that the rainwater can drain out easily and does not get accumulated on roads or streets. Citizens, too, should ensure that garbage and other waste material is not thrown in the drain surrounding their houses, which leads to blockage and ultimately waterlogging. In Canada, individuals are instructed to clean passages as well as the area around their houses in case of snowfall. If they don’t do so, they are fined. The MC can also think on these lines to encourage people to keep drains around their homes neat and clean. In addition, most roads get damaged due to heavy traffic. Pits are formed and water gets accumulated in them, resulting in accidents, especially during rains. The MC should also ensure that roads and streets are re-carpeted after every five years. Pits are formed and water gets accumulated in them, resulting in accidents, especially during the rainy season. The MC should also ensure that roads and streets are re-carpeted after every five years.

Gurdeep Kaur

Streamline working of municipal system

Preventing waterlogging in urban areas during every monsoon season has been a persistent challenge for the municipal authorities. To tackle the issue, authorities should consider taking certain proactive measures. These may involve maintaining storm water systems by ensuring proper drainage through regular cleaning and repair, dividing the city into different manageable zones, conducting inspections of public properties to identify potential hazards, monitoring accumulated water, and promptly addressing drainage issues. Pre-emptive actions such as clearing clogged gutters, trimming loose branches of mature trees, removing clutter and debris from streets, open areas and around properties can help minimise damage. Banning the manufacturing and public use of plastic bags and bottles can prevent clogging in drains. Residents can be motivated to contribute by segregating plastic bottles, dry and wet waste at home to prevent health hazards. Using wire mesh covers for road gullies can also effectively reduce the problem by allowing only water to enter the drain. It is essential to streamline the working performance of municipal authorities by holding its elections at the earliest, discouraging political patronage and interference, linking job promotion and salaries with performance, proper supervision and penalising corruption. Urban planning should include mandatory rainwater harvesting and ecological considerations while discouraging illegal occupation of land near water bodies. Efforts to desilt, widen, straighten and clear vegetation and debris in rivers, seasonal streams and drainage channels can greatly enhance flood conveyance capacity. Strengthening river embankments by constructing ripraps, dykes or spurs, as well as planting deep-rooted trees, are also important steps that can help mitigate the problem of waterlogging.

Kulwant Singh Phull

Enlist volunteers for cleaning

Though the Municipal Corporation claims to have put hours into building a sustainable drainage system, yet it was caught napping despite a normal rainfall, with roads in Jalandhar getting flooded. Accumulation of water causes an outbreak of waterborne diseases and breeding of mosquitoes, leading to stomach infections and diseases like dengue and malaria. The areas that suffered the most were Ladowali Road, Lamma Pind Chowk, Urban Estate Phase II, Sarab Multiplex on the Jalandhar-Amritsar highway, and Gazi Gullan. As the monsoon season is making its progress, it is crucial to build an actual, efficient and long-lasting drainage system to avoid such incidents. Even more importantly, timely cleaning of drains is essential to the system’s productivity. This is because the gutters are already full of waste and garbage of the common masses. In addition to this, polythene plays a formidable role in blocking the drains permanently. Therefore, there is no room for rainwater to flow. Which is why, incidents like waterlogging and the flooding of entire roads merely because of a few hours of downpour happens. To avoid this filthy situation, responsible citizens of the city should be aware about not throwing plastic bags here and there to avoid accumulation of water. In addition to this, thorough cleaning on a monthly/weekly basis should be organised by the government through a volunteer system to make the people, mostly the youth, independent and aware of issues in the city. The method is adopted by many foreign countries where kids in high schools must work for a certain number of hours as volunteers for cleaning the roads and parks if required and other related works in order to graduate. We should also implement this to make the city a better place with the help of zestful youth. Another way to avoid waterlogging is to organise some awareness programmes and speeches explaining the seriousness of the topic, which is of course done by many NGOs. However, no one gives a thought to it. Furthermore, the government should also play its role towards this cause in an honest way. Jointly, these steps could precisely hold the key to waterlogging-free roads in Jalandhar.

Lakshit Jindal

No encroachments on water bodies

The recent downpour exposed the claims of Jalandhar Municipal Corporation regarding preparedness of drainage system to meet the challenges posed by the rainy season. Several roads and localities in the city were flooded with rainwater and some have still not been cleared of stagnant water. Rather, the problem of waterlogging is common in almost all cities, but the conditions become worse every year during the monsoon season. The city infrastructure starts crumbling in many ways as the roads and streets are broken and big potholes appear due to poor construction quality by contractors in connivance with officials of Public Works Department. Despite emphasis on proactive cleanliness and maintenance of disposal channels, it is a pity that the scenario has not changed and several water outlets get clogged even after a mild rainfall. As a result, long traffic snarls are a routine experience, causing numerous hardships to commuters and posing physical risk to life and property. Furthermore, the garbage scattered here and there creates environmental issues and results in an outbreak of viral diseases. As such, the problem of waterlogging needs to be thoroughly addressed for which the civic authorities have to ensure that drainage outlets are in good shape and regularly reinforced. Haphazard and unauthorised urbanisation has to be curbed and the government must tackle the issue of illegal encroachments on land meant for water bodies. Needless to say that all constructions should invariably be substituted with suitable maintenance clause, and the supervising officials should be held responsible for maintaining quality standards instead of putting the blame on vagaries of nature for adverse consequences. It is indeed paramount to prevent any unauthorised and unplanned constructions. The MC officials in coordination with drainage department must be proactively involved in proper upkeep of water bodies and sewers to avoid inconvenience to the public during incessant rains.

Nirmaljit Singh Chatrath

Poor drainage impacts roads, health

A few hours of rain exposes the reality of drainage system. The whole city is flooded with water within hours. It becomes a safety hazard for kids and seniors who can’t walk on the damaged roads and chances of getting hurt is very high because roads are not visible and pavements in the vicinity cannot be seen anywhere. It is the result of a poor drainage system creating an impact on roads and health. Drainage pipes and channels are never cleaned. There is bad effect on health due to waterborne diseases and unsanitary conditions. Stagnation of water occurs due to blocked pipes. Mosquitoes and other insects breed and cause many infectious diseases. Prompt action should be taken and all open drains should be covered. Importance should be given to cleaning of drainage system to ensure smooth flow of water. Improve the sanitation and hygiene of the areas to ensure the safety of residents. They must do something to clear the stagnant water which gives a foul odour.

Shashi Kiran

Check every defective drain before rains

To prevent waterlogging in future, the MC should ensure a proper and effective drainage system through implementation of proper supervision of every defective drain in the city. Cleaning of drains should be done efficiently by setting a minimum number of days as target for workers. No efforts need to be left out by the MC authorities to improve waterlogging in the city by concentrating wholly on providing an effective drainage system, whereby rain water flows inside it only. Last, but not the least, quality of roads needs to be improved by removing all ditches and potholes in it in order to prevent accumulation of water on a large scale.

Sanjay Chawla

Incentivise workers for cleaning work

Waterlogging becomes a grave concern during the monsoon season. In urban areas, it takes a disastrous shape and creates problems for dwellers. The municipal corporations are doing their best to overcome the problem of waterlogging but the main concern is that everyone is alerted during the monsoon season, but no one talks about it before and after. Besides the municipal corporations, it is also the responsibility of local residents to take steps to mitigate the problem of waterlogging. They should keep track of their daily trash and focus on dumping the waste in bins as segregated waste blocks the sewage system on roads. The municipal corporations should keep their eye on waste and ensure that these do not block the sewage. Moreover, the civic bodies should incentivise the local people who give their best in cleaning their surroundings.

Bharti Thakur

Potholes lead to water accumulation

There are a number of reasons for waterlogging during the monsoon season or when it rains heavily. Because of the neglect in cleaning sewer lines, they become over-flooded due to the heavy flow of water and waste in sewer lines. Apart from this, the potholes too are also responsible for any mishappening in case of waterlogging. During the monsoon, any step taken cannot provide immediate relief from waterlogging on roads, a key reason why cleaning of sewer lines cannot be completed in a short spell. Similarly, there are no ponds which can immediately absorb the rainwater. The need is of a proper mechanism and to decide on remedies keeping in mind the increasing population and quantity of waste water released daily so that during heavy rains, the storm sewer or the sewerage lines can carry extra rainwater smoothly.

Rajat Kumar Mohindru

Plant trees, ensure proper clean-up

The MC can take some of these steps to prevent waterlogging: Identify and remove blockages in drains; monitor built-up area and manage it properly; increase retention and determination capacity of rainwater; ensuring sustainable development of the drainage system during urban planning and design; regular clean-up of solid and plastic waste from the city drains; improve public utilities and services; provide proper urban design, planning and landscape architecture. Also, identify areas where water tends to accumulate and fix the underlying issues. Plant more trees and greenery to absorb excess rainwater, implement flood control measures such as flood gates, dams and retention ponds. By taking these steps, the MC can help to prevent waterlogging in the city.

Muskandeep Kaur

Ward-level measures can be of help

Waterlogging is seen every year during the rainy season. Residents have to face great problems. Sometimes waterlogging turns roads and streets into canals. The main reason for waterlogging on the streets is a poor drainage system. When the underground pipes are blocked, water creates holes in pipes and they start leaking. These holes in the pipes create pits on the streets when rain starts, and rainwater fills the pits. The MC agencies in wards can play a vital role in preventing waterlogging in the streets. They can inform the public about cleanliness in the ward. They can make arrangements for holding seminars to make people aware that garbage, polythene and vegetable residues are the main sources of waterlogging. They can provide a common dustbin for dispose of waste material. The MC can impose fine on anyone who does not follow the guidelines.

Sucha Singh Sagar

Handle garbage in scientific manner

It is a fact that drainage system in the cities is very poor, nay, defunct. A moderate shower exposes the reality of the drainage system. The first step that the MC can take is to desilt the drainage pipes from certain crucial points. The broken pipes should be repaired without wasting any time. Since the garbage is not being handled in a scientific way, drainage pipes often get choked. The MC must ensure a proper disposal of city waste lest it blocks drainage pipes. The public should not litter roads with plastic bags and other waste material. They must behave in a responsible manner. Finally, ad hoc measures need to be ignored. A foolproof plan should be made so that the problem gets resolved on a permanent basis.

Prof Rajan Kapoor

Water management holds the key

An area is said to be waterlogged if the productivity of land gets reduced due to high water table. In other words, waterlogging refers to the saturation of soil with water. Soil may be regarded as waterlogged when the groundwater level is too high. This happens because soil becomes ill-aerated. There are many reasons for waterlogging such as excessive rainfall, overflow due to floods, seepage of water from canal system, slow drainage and irregular topography. There are some main effects of waterlogging like reduction in growing of plants, growth of weeds and grass which create difficulty in cultivation, increase incidence of plant diseases and bacteria. Some major solutions to prevent waterlogging are the lining of canal and reducing the force of irrigation. We should not construct roads or buildings near natural drains and we should not be using alkaline water for irrigation.

Mehakpreet Kaur 

QUESTION FOR NEXT WEEK

Though the monsoon season is in full swing, efforts are not being made to replenish groundwater by setting up a rainwater harvesting system in all big buildings and houses in the district. What steps should the government take to ensure the setting up of the system at homes?

Suggestions in not more than 200 words can be sent to jalandhardesk@tribunemail.com  by Thursday (July 18)