Leakage in pipes to blame for water contamination
Our Correspondent
Abohar, April 7
Hundreds of residents in half a dozen colonies near Seetogunno Road here have been finding it challenging to move out of their houses even before lockdown or curfew restrictions were announced because sanitation woes have been plaguing the area for the past over four months.
Residents of Model Town, Ekta Colony, Sunder Nagari, Gurdyal Nagar, Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar and Airforce Colony said they directed the attention of the authorities towards sanitation problems in the area many a times, but the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board (PWSSB) officials paid little heed.
The officials did deploy machines every month to remove silt from sewage pipes, however, operations were disrupted because residents of different areas mounted pressure on the authorities to address problems in their area first. No steps were taken to plug the leakage in some underground pipes that had polluted water and made it unfit for consumption. Breeding of mosquitoes is a scourge in these localities.
Since water used to accumulate outside the automobile service stations, last month, the board launched a drive against automobile service stations and disconnected their water supply connections, hoping to scale down the chronic problems faced by residents near Seetogunno road, but nothing came out of it.
“Now is the time when PWSSB can resume desilting work on a war-footing since right now streets and roads are deserted and no public movement is there,” the locals said.
PWSSB executive engineer Jugal Kishore said some of the sewage pipes had been cleaned in the past, the remaining work would be started within this month.
