Recent showers in Dehradun have brought relief from the rising mercury level, but have also exposed the failure of the civic authorities to maintain sanitation and prevent water-logging in various parts of the State capital.
A spell of rain on Tuesday morning caused water-logging in some areas of the town for some hours. Such water-logging is caused mainly because of encroachments and continued dumping of garbage on open roadside drains.
The garbage is strewn around from the drains during water-logging and deposited on the roads after the water recedes.
The State Government and Municipal Corporation of Dehradun have taken various measures like work on the JNNURM-funded solid waste management project and a drive for cleaning the Rispana and Bindal rivers, but these have had limited effect on the level of sanitation in Dehradun.
Though periodic cleaning drives are undertaken by the MCD, the corporation has failed to prevent the dumping of garbage in open drains and public places. When asked about this, the MCD
additional Mukhya Nagar Adhikari Bansidhar Tiwari simply said that cleaning work would be taken up.
While officials blame the public for improper dumping of garbage, the people blame the officials for not facilitating a proper waste disposal system. People living in areas which experience water-logging after some hours of rain complain that if they are facing water-logging even before the start of the rainy season, the problem would be worse once the rains start.
While unplanned urbanisation allowed by the authorities and lack of coordinated action by departments concerned is also responsible for this state of affairs, the officials point out that continued dumping of garbage in roadside drains and public places is responsible for various civic woes in the State capital.
However, the authorities have also failed to take stringent action under the law against such dumping of garbage.
Observers point out that even after the solid waste management project becomes operational, water-logging and lack of civic sanitation would continue to afflict the town if the authorities fail to act effectively to stop this malpractice.