Batala, February 13
After gastroenteritis devoured 42 lives (21 officially while the rest had been put to other causes by the district administration) in October, things have come back to square one with the administration and Municipal Committee (MC) officials trying to push the highly unhygienic state of affairs in the town under the carpet.
Unsanitary conditions prevail in the worst-affected area of the town ---the poverty stricken Gandhi camp. A visit to the colony clearly proves that officials are trying to pull wool over the eyes of the residents by claiming that “they had done enough to improve the living conditions in the area.”
Sanitary inspectors of the MC do not dare to enter areas which actually are heavily inhabited by people.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Dr Abhinav Trikha admitted that his officials were doing their best to mitigate the suffering of the people.
“People want their problems to vanish overnight, but the fact remains that officials have no magic wand to alleviate their misery,” said a senior functionary.
The Gandhi camp area is home to nearly 20,000 people, a majority of them living below the poverty line. Filthy drains, massive garbage heaps, contaminated water and choked sewer pipes are common sights, but many claim that all these problems are “man made” and the “crises type situation in the colony” will continue to prevail because residents are themselves to blame for the pathetic state of affairs.
Local MLA Ashwani Sekhri met the SSP a few days ago and urged him to lodge a case against “erring” officials of the Local Bodies department for criminal negligence. “He should not criticise the MC. By virtue of being an MLA, he is also its ex-officio member,” he remarked.
Dharam Pal, who lost two of his brothers within a time span of 20 days,
said no efforts had been made to improve the living conditions.
“A lot of hype and hoopla was raised by politicians and officials when gastroenteritis broke out. The CM himself visited the town and had promised to look into the deplorable conditions in the colony. However, little has been done since then and things are back to square one,” he said.
An officer claimed that the present impasse within the MC which is functioning without a president and a vice-president owing to a legal tangle should not come in the way of the committee performing its duty of providing adequate sanitation to the people.
