Lodging their protest against choked sewer lines, which they claimed had not been cleared out in four years, Manjit Nagar residents dumped sewer waste in the office of Sector 47 councillor Priya Kaira on Tuesday.
The councillor was not in office at the time, but a few people were waiting for her there. Residents of Street 2,3 and 4 said they had lodged a complaint with the Congress councillor on multiple occasions, but to no avail. One of the protesters, Gurmeet Singh, said, “We were forced to take this step as the councillor has be ignoring our grievance for four years. One cannot even move through the streets due to the accumulated waste water, and people steer clear of the area due to the stench. Low capacity sewer lines have been installed in the area.”
“Whenever we raise the issue before the councillor, she mollifies us hollow assurances, but nothing is done on ground level,” he said.
Another protester, Dharminder Singh, said, “We live in constant fear of an epidemic breaking out due to the prevailing unhygienic conditions. Our children have to cross the accumulated water, while going to school. The low hanging wires in close proximity to the collected water endangers pedestrians and commuters’ lives. We had raised the issue ahead of the assembly elections as well, but the councillor had assured us that the issue will be resolved, and had asked us to call off the protest.”
{{/usCountry}}Another protester, Dharminder Singh, said, “We live in constant fear of an epidemic breaking out due to the prevailing unhygienic conditions. Our children have to cross the accumulated water, while going to school. The low hanging wires in close proximity to the collected water endangers pedestrians and commuters’ lives. We had raised the issue ahead of the assembly elections as well, but the councillor had assured us that the issue will be resolved, and had asked us to call off the protest.”
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, the councillor’s husband Nirmal Kaira said that the protest was politically motivated, and a police complaint had been filed against the culprits who entered my office, and created a ruckus.
Kaira said, “New sewer lines have been installed in Street 6, but work to install the lines in Street 4 was delayed as model code of conduct was imposed in the state ahead of the assembly elections. As we speak, work to clean sewer lines with super-suction machines is underway in the area. The protest is clearly politically motivated.”