Jalandhar West Assembly by-election: Where fresh breeze of air, potable water is a luxury

Deepkamal Kaur

Jalandhar, June 14

Almost everyone likes to have a start of the day while breathing some fresh air in a lawn of the house or a public park. But that’s perhaps the biggest privilege of life that eludes 3,000 residents of Shivaji Nagar in Basti Danishmandan.

Their day starts with foul smell emanating from overflowing sewers right outside their houses. The moment the supply of water starts in their locality, sewer water overflows in streets through road gullies. By the time, the supply of the water stops past 9 am, streets are swamped with sewer water making it extremely difficult for resident to venture out of their homes.

Thanks to the rising mercury and dry spell, swamped roads dry up around afternoon, except for some algae-ridden marshy and slippery patches. But as the evening water supply is restored around 5 pm, drains overflow again portraying the same morning picture. But, a bigger problem after the sunset is that streetlights do not work and hence it becomes risky for residents to pass through slippery sewer water in the darkness.

The problem of residents just does not end here. Drinking water that residents get here is also smelly and discoloured. “The quality of water is so bad that even filters have failed to purify it. We boil our drinking water three times a day, cool it and then refrigerate so that it becomes fit for consumption,” said Raj Rani, a resident of the locality.

Neha, another resident of the area, said, “Our family members, especially our kids keep falling ill due to stomach ailments. Most of us do labour work to make our both ends meet. It’s not easy for us to spend Rs 200 to Rs 250 every other week on doctors’ fee and on buying medicines.”

Congress leader Ashwani Jhangral, who represents the area, said, “Not just me, even MP-elect Charanjit Singh Channi has held a meeting with MC Commissioner Gautam Jain to discuss problems of the area. He pressed the Commissioner to find a solution to the problems.”

He further said, “We have suggested civic body officials to at least provide super suction pumps in the area as a temporary solution to overflowing sewer issue just as they have done in the adjoining Lasoori Mohalla. Monsoon time is around the corner and the lives of residents is going to become a hell here. Mosquito swarms can be seen on the standing water. It’s clear that residents fall ill due to vector-borne diseases like malaria, dengue and other ailments.”