Residents of Jalandhar's Green Avenue residents complain of water contamination

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, February 23

After a sewage drain in the area remained blocked for the past eight months, residents of the Green Avenue (Basti Peerdad) in Jalandhar have now been getting sewage water in their drinking water line for the past three to four days. Residents holding bottles of dirty water in their hands on Sunday said repeated complaints to the MC on their plight had fallen on deaf ears.

Tarun Sharma, a resident of the area, said, “We have made repeated complaints to the Municipal Corporation about sewage blocks in the three streets which caused the entire streets to stink and water accumulated on the roads. But no one from the MC turned up to clear the area. Sewage has become a by word in the area and after eight months of streets being blocked it has now entered into our water supply. Now we can’t even bathe in it.”

Rohit Pal said, “People in the area have diarrhea, allergies and various sicknesses due to dirty water. Almost every house has a diarrhea case. Many people also have fever and other ailments. We have spoken to both the councillor and the Mayor but they have expressed helplessness due to sanitation workers. Our area is on the verge of a big outbreak if the issue of blocked sewage drain was not addressed soon. In summers, most of the infections thrive in dirty water.”

Gurdharan Pal Singh, another resident, said, “A foul smell emanates from tap water. Even ROs can't purify the water. We can't even use the water to wash clothes or utensils. The MC is responsible for the problem as it has failed to clear a blocked sewer line”

Area councillor Chanderjit Kaur Sandha said, “We have no machines or safai karamcharis. After much imploring two sewer men have been provided for the area. Because of sheer lack of foresight, two sewer line openings are under the road. The area has to be dug to plug the problem and drain out the sewage. There is also a severe dearth of machines. We receive five complaints a day and three are left unaddressed. The work will start on the sewer line tomorrow. In a few days time problems will go away.”

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