Civic body fails to lodge FIR against illegal sewer connections in Ludhiana

Despite recommendations of the mayor, MC officials have been dilly-dallying in lodging FIRs against those who installed illegal sewer connections for their factories on Bahadur Ke Road.

Despite recommendations of the mayor, MC officials have been dilly-dallying in lodging FIRs against those who installed illegal sewer connections for their factories on Bahadur Ke Road.

The mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria had instructed zonal commissioner Kamlesh Bansal to lodge cases against the violators on August 10 but so far no action has been taken.

The civic body had earlier claimed that they had disconnected an illegal sewer line which was connected to MC’s sewer line. However, no action was taken against the violators.

The mayor had said that if anybody procures an illegal connection, it is the responsibility of the officials concerned to lodge FIR against them.

Even then, no inquiry was conducted to identify the factories that were illegally releasing their untreated waste into MC’s sewer lane, sources said.

Residents of the area had complained that due to the illegal sewer lines at factories, the sewer was overflowing and entering residential areas under the MC’s jurisdiction.

When the MC team went to check status of disconnected illegal connections on August 9, a mob of over 150 persons including the staff of factories allegedly attacked them. Only one accused was arrested on the spot in this regard. Gohalwaria said he will check the status whether the FIR was lodged or not.

MC UNIONS MEET POLICE COMMISSIONER AND DEMAND ARREST OF ATTACKERS:

Members of MC unions met the police commissioner on Tuesday and demanded to arrest the remaining accused who allegedly beat the MC’s junior engineer Rajneesh Kumar and three others on August 9.

Municipal Ministerial Employees Union president Jasdev Singh Sekhon said the team had gone to check the status of illegal connections but they were allegedly attacked by the staff of factories. He said that the police had not taken action to arrest the remaining accused. “We met the police commissioner and deputy commissioner of police. They assured to conduct an inquiry in this regard,” he said. Following the attack, Salem Tabri police had registered the FIR against a security guard Gagandeep Singh and owner Rakesh Gambhir of Sumit Hosiery on Bahadur Ke Road and 100/150 unidentified persons under sections 323, 341, 353, 186 and 149 of IPC.