The tertiary treated water pipeline project initiated by Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) has left the city residents high and dry.
The city denizens are facing tough time safeguarding their walkways from being dug during the laying of tertiary treated water pipelines. For this, they also have to loosen up their pockets to prevent trenches at the entrance of their houses. Not only this, the phone lines running underground are also damaged during the laying of these pipes.
The contractors hired by the MCC to lay the pipelines leave behind pits unattended creating upheavals for the residents of the city. During the process, the contractors are digging up the gateways of those who do not pay exorbitant amount demanded by them. And, the tiles or bricks used in the walkways and driveways are never put back to their place after the completion of the project.
The contractors are demanding upto Rs 1,500 from the residents to lay underground tunnel and leave their walkways and driveways undamaged. Recently, major problem was faced by the residents of Sector-16 when the phone lines were damaged during digging to lay the pipelines. While the residents made several complaints to the MCC, nothing was done in this regard.
A resident of Sector-16 said, “I have to park my car outside the gate and have to jump over the trench to come into the house. The trenches fill up with water whenever it rains making the area shabby.” “We reluctantly pay to the contractor to save the parking area of our house,” said another resident of Sector-16.
The sectors that are included in the list of tertiary treated water pipeline project are Sector 15, 16, 21 and 28. When contacted RC Diwan, MCC Superintendent Engineer, he supported the contractors for charging exorbitantly from the residents. He said, “MCC takes no responsibility of construction and damage. People are free to pay to the contractor to get their space exempted from digging up. They are allowed to pay as per the contractor’s demand if they can afford to. In that case, an underground tunnel is made for the pipeline which is brought to the ground later. The MCC coordinator takes care that the pipelines are laid on time and inspects the area while all the work is done by contractors.”
He added, “Under the project, the sectors will be provided with treated sewage water to prevent wastage of fresh drinking water. This would end up the scarcity of drinking water in the city. The lawns will be watered through this.”last year, same problems were faced by the Sectors 1 to 7, 9 and 10 when the pipelines were laid. And, again MCC was late to respond to the complaints.
The concept of tertiary treated sewage water was envisaged in 2009 when the reports of depleting potable drinking water surfaced in the city.