GUJRAT: A vast area comprising residential localities on the outskirts of the city has been inundated since August last year with sewage after Ratti disposal station’s pipeline was dislocated, causing a breach in the sewerage system and embankments of the Hailsey storm water channel.

Areas, including Garhi Ahmedabad, Kalu Pura and Hussain Pura, close to the disposal station were inundated after a 400-foot-long pipeline close to the station was dislocated allegedly due to poor quality of the sewerage lines whose base had not been properly compacted at the time of execution, said an official of the engineering branch of the Municipal corporation.

The dislocation of pipes had also caused a breach in the embankment of the storm water channel, but the authorities concerned remained unmoved. Now, a large portion of the pipeline had ruptured spilling out sewage in a vast residential area. The stagnant water has also caused various ailments among locals.

The pipeline had been laid around 15 years ago when the disposal station was constructed. Municipal Corporation Mayor Haji Nasir Mehmood claimed that the corporation had started repairing the damaged pipeline a few months ago but an applicant raised the matter with the local government secretary that the corporation could not carry out repair work at a site where a project had actually been executed by the public health and engineering department. The project’s age limit was around 50 years, but it had flopped in 15 years so the repair work should also be carried out by the department concerned, he added.

He further said they had also shifted machinery and other equipment to the site a few months ago after approving the scheme which could not be carried out on technical grounds. The local government secretary then directed the corporation to stop the repair work after which the matter was taken up with the housing secretary since the public health department worked under the housing department.

“Since then a lot of reminders have been sent to the authorities concerned for fixing the problem, but so far the process seemed to be very slow,” the mayor claimed, adding that the housing secretary had constituted a committee of experts who would inspect the damaged portion and dispatch a report in light of which the department concerned might launch repair work.

The corporation installed two peter engines to drain out the sewage from the residential localities as a temporary remedy, but the spilling of polluted water into residences has been a cause of concern for people. They urged the Punjab government and the other authorities concerned to solve their problem before the rainy season starts.

Published in Dawn, April 9th, 2018