With monsoon expected to arrive in first week of July several sewerage and drainage works in Jalandhar are still incomplete raising concerns about waterlogging in different parts of city and while Municipal Corporation says work is progressing and hotspot areas will be ready by June 30 many locations continue to face unfinished cleaning and ongoing construction work and a ground report found that preparations at several sewerage disposal units are yet to be completed as debris and waste are still lying at sewerage disposal unit in Dhann Mohalla while at Transport Nagar disposal unit piles of sand and gravel remain near site.
A nearly six-kilometre stretch of National Highway between Aman Nagar and Transport Nagar is still unpaved and if heavy rain occurs loose soil from road may wash into sewerage lines and increase chances of blockages and Municipal Corporation had instructed officials and field staff about a week ago to complete monsoon preparations quickly however work on ground is still moving slowly at several places.
As per officials sewerage lines across city have been cleaned with the help of super suction machines and the collected silt has been removed to improve the flow of rainwater he said all sewerage disposal units and Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) have been reviewed. As per reports a control room will be set up during the monsoon so that residents can report waterlogging complaints and according to him the remaining work is being completed as quickly as possible.
Municipal Corporation has around 35 sewerage disposal units across city where nearly 80 motors are installed and at present reportedly nine motors are under repair and work is also being carried out to improve operations at Pholdriwal STP, Basti Pirdad STP and Jaitewali STP. Cleaning of drains and stormwater sewerage system is also underway.
Road and lane cleaning has not been completed in many places and at some disposal units there are no proper arrangements for immediate replacement of motors if they stop working during heavy rainfall and rainwater harvesting projects at Ikhari Puli and Domoria Bridge are still pending while construction of a new sewerage disposal unit in Hargobind Nagar has also not been completed.
Several areas have been identified as prone to waterlogging during heavy rain which include Ikhari Puli, Domoria Bridge, parts of Smart Road, Model Town, New Jawahar Nagar, Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar, 120-Feet Road, National Highway near Aman Nagar and Transport Nagar, Basti Sheikh, Lasudi Mohalla, Raj Nagar, Gopal Nagar and Ram Nagar and many roads and lanes between Workshop Chowk and Maksudan also remain dug up because of ongoing sewerage work.
Another issue is that the Jaitewali Sewage Treatment Plant has not yet been fully connected to city's sewerage network, in Dakoha water drainage is being affected because of an incorrect gradient in the sewerage line and earlier there was a proposal to build a new sewerage disposal unit near Domoria Bridge and Ikhari Puli however the project was cancelled after a change in government. A new proposal was later prepared but work has still not started as a result existing disposal units will have to handle full load during monsoon increasing possibility of waterlogging.
Municipal Commissioner Sandeep Rishi said work is progressing continuously across city and said desilting of sewerage lines has been going on since January while he admitted that the pace of work had slowed due to war situation which increased the cost of supplies and affected progress of some projects however he said work has continued despite these challenges.
According to Municipal Commissioner around 240 kilometres of pipelines are currently being worked on across city and out of these more than 100 kilometres fall in waterlogging hotspot areas, he said these hotspot locations are being given top priority along with this he also expressed confidence that the work in the hotspot areas will be completed by June 30 while work in other non-problematic areas will continue even after that.
The city's preparedness was recently tested during pre-monsoon showers as even a small amount of rainfall led to waterlogging at several locations in Jalandhar highlighting challenges that may arise if heavier monsoon rains arrive before remaining work is completed.