Gurugram: In Ward 16, sewage overflow and stray cattle irk locals
The ward consists of Arjun Colony, Idgah Colony, Jyoti Park, Jyoti Park (east), Madanpuri, Nehru Lane, Pratap Nagar, Vijay Park and Manohar Nagar
Gurugram: Residents of Ward 16 have alleged that their ward is possibly the dirtiest among the rest since even without rainfall, the broken and damaged sewers continue to overflow spilling filth on the roads with the stench reaching their homes. They have pointed out that not a single road or pavement in the ward is clean or fit for commuting and there is garbage littered everywhere.
The ward consists of Arjun Colony, Idgah Colony, Jyoti Park, Jyoti Park (east), Madan Puri, Nehru Lane, Pratap Nagar, Vijay Park and Manohar Nagar.
Local people claimed that there is no proper sanitation arrangements and door-to-door garbage collection in the ward has not been carried out for the last five months.
The roads are poor and damaged, and they have deteriorated further due to continuous waterlogging during the ongoing monsoon season.
The ward has a population of about 1.6 to 1.8 lakh with 35,648 registered voters. According to residents, the condition of the ward further nosedived after the term of the ward councillors ended as the officials of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) and the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) stopped listening to them or acting on their complaints.
Residents of several areas have written to MCG officials asking them to lay new sewer lines multiple times over the last two years since the lines are more than 30 years old and in dilapidated condition but no concrete action has been taken.
The ward earlier had a primary and senior secondary school for girls but six years ago, the primary school was shut and authorities are yet to provide a new one for the children of residents.
Overflowing sewers
Not a single locality in the ward is free from the foul smell of sewer water, residents alleged. The condition is the same in Arjun Nagar, Pratap Nagar, Jyoti Park or Madan Puri.
The sewer systems are completely clogged at these places with the residents forced to commute through the mud and filth that has accumulated on the road from the continuous flow. It ultimately results in severe waterlogging even after a spell of rain that lasts for only a few minutes.
The condition was no different near the house of the former councillor of the ward, Madhu Batra, who lives in Pratap Nagar.
Vikas Mehta, one of the residents of Pratap Nagar, said that the sewers have remained completely clogged for the last several months. “The situation deteriorates with the onset of monsoons. In our lane, the waterlogging caused by rainfall recedes in 45 minutes to an hour but it takes almost two to three hours for the lane in which our former councillor lives. Until water recedes, we can’t go out of homes,” he said.
“If she, being connected to officials, is unable to get the sewer near her house cleaned forcing her and her family to live in such a situation then the condition of other residents can be easily imagined,” Mehta said.
Yashpal Grover, a resident of Arjun Nagar, said that more than one year back, residents of the locality went to meet the MCG Commissioner to request for a new sewer pipeline of about 600 metres in their area as the earlier one was old and clogged. “The MCG Commissioner signed our petition and sent us to meet the executive engineer. Next day, we met him, who further asked us to approach the sub-divisional officer. The SDO, on the third day, sent us to meet the junior engineer where we left our petition and returned. We kept running from chamber to chamber for four days and no development took place even after a year,” he said adding, officials and lawmakers have learnt to act mechanically and on paper only.
Contaminated water supply
In addition to the dilapidated, clogged and overflowing sewers all around, contaminated water supply has further added to the woes of the residents. They said that they frequently get contaminated and dirty water from taps.
They alleged that the water supply pipelines are also more than two decades old at several locations and they have worn out causing minute leakages and they remain submerged in sewer water which results in dirty water seeping inside them. The leakages are mostly repaired by the residents at their own cost as MCG workers either don’t respond or take a lot of time in carrying out repair work.
Honey Kamra, a resident of Jyoti Park, said that they needed to remain alert all the time especially during monsoon to avoid drinking contaminated water.
“Many residents have fallen ill in the last two to three years by consuming such water. The water coming from the tap smells and gives a clear indication that sewer water has got mixed with it due to leakage,” he said. Kamra said that in such a situation, their troubles do not end with just closing the tap, instead they are forced to drain the entire overhead or underground tank.
Another issue troubling residents is the irregular distribution of water bills. Many residents have not received their water bills for months, raising concerns about being hit with a large, consolidated bill at some point in the future, which would be difficult for many to pay. “There is no agency distributing our water bills. Eventually, we will receive a huge bill, and it will be a financial burden on all of us,” Manish Sharma added.
Damaged roads
Most of the roads in the ward are badly damaged which is due to the fact that they have not been repaired or rebuilt for five years, residents said. Soil scouring due to continuously leaking sewer pipelines underground and collapsed manholes is another major reason due to which roads are getting damaged.
Bobby Dhawan, a Vijay Park resident said, “The last time the roads were built properly was more than 5 years back. Since then, hardly any major repair work has been carried out by MCG contractors. Repair work, if carried out, is done even without waiting for the damaged patch to dry up. These repaired patches hardly last for a fortnight,” he said.
Residents said that manhole covers are either missing or damaged from movement of heavy vehicles which have not been replaced for the last two to three years by the MCG even after a series of complaints. They said that due to it, the chambers and sewer pipelines are getting damaged and the roads are caving it which on several occasions trap cars or cause injury to elderly residents.
Scattered garbage leading to stray cattle menace
It has been more than five months that the residents of all the localities in the ward are not getting door-to-door garbage collection facilities from MCG sanitation workers.
Residents said that the contractor stopped providing service suddenly from the first week of April and since then the entire ward has been full of garbage. Residents said that the contractors just left a few trolleys in every locality and asked them to drop the daily household garbage generated by them in it.
Raj Kishore, an advocate living in Arjun Nagar, said that such is the situation that the pedestrians have to take a detour to avoid such garbage-filled spots. “Those having shops nearby are forced to sit for the whole day covering their nose and mouth with a towel to counter the stink. Even the business of these shop owners has taken a hit due to the garbage piled up nearby,” he added.
Power outages and defunct street lights
Madanpuri, Idgah Colony and Manohar Nagar are a few areas which suffer from frequent power outages and low voltage issues. Residents said that the power supply infrastructure in the area needs to be upgraded with the installation of high-capacity transformers that can deal with the load.
They said that the population of the ward has increased tremendously in the last few years with new construction being carried out to accommodate more people. The number of consumers has increased and so has the demand for power but no steps have been taken yet to meet the demand. Residents said that most of the street lights in the area are defunct and have not been replaced in the last year due to which several areas turn dark after sunset.
MCG Commissioner Narhari Singh Bangar said that officials will look into the issue of blocked and dilapidated sewer pipelines in the ward. “New lines will be laid wherever required. The work for fixing water supply pipelines will also be taken up soon,” he added.