Officials of the public health engineering department (PHED), Ambala, have admitted that sewage water has seeped into drinking water pipelines of Baldev Nagar, due to negligence by a telecom firm and the municipal corporation (MC), leading to contaminated water supply.
As per reports, a JCB machine employed by the firm, M/S Telesonic Network Ltd, tasked to lay fiber optics in Baldev Nagar, broke a pipeline, causing sewage to mix into drinking water.
PHED officials said the firm laid wires overnight, damaging pipelines in several areas, due to which there was contaminated water supply for the last several days except during the fixed water supply hours.
Following this, a PHED executive engineer filed a complaint against the firm and a case was registered under Section 3 of Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act at the Baldev Nagar police station.
“MC issued permission only for razing the road, not harming the underground public utility. The firm was informed about the polluted water supply, but all in vain. There have been several cases of diarrhoea in the area in the past and we are sceptical, if there is no action against the firm, they may damage the pipelines again,” the official said in his statement.
Rakesh Mehta, a local resident, said, “For days, we were forced to drink and use contaminated water. What if someone falls ill or worse, dies? Will the authorities take responsibility?”
{{/usCountry}}Rakesh Mehta, a local resident, said, “For days, we were forced to drink and use contaminated water. What if someone falls ill or worse, dies? Will the authorities take responsibility?”
{{/usCountry}}The issue was also raised during MC’s House meeting on Thursday. On this, mayor Shakti Rani Sharma said she had received several complaints and MC officials had made a serious mistake. Deputy municipal commissioner Deepak Sura said action will be taken against the officials.