Covering of drains leads to frequent clogging: Expert

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 14

The government has spent crores on covering open drains in the city. It may be the cause behind frequent clogging of drainage system, which stops flow of rainwater from roads.

A brief downpour is enough to submerge many roads in the city for four to five hours.

Task undertaken without assessment

Disaster management expert Surjit Sharma said many city-based open drains were covered over the years without conducting any environment impact assessment.

He said it was really difficult to distinguish between storm water and sewage drains in the city.

“Covering these drains is fraught with dangers. Once covered, cleaning of these drains will be almost impossible,” he added.

Gas formation another big issue

Open drains are naturally treated by oxidation during flow, which will be absent after these are covered. In case, covered drains are clogged with waste, then it is a big problem of gas formation, which is another issue.

Drains carry sewage water that emanates noxious gases. It can cause severe groundwater pollution if trapped. Covering of drains can lead to massive urban flooding as the concrete obstructs groundwater recharge.

These are the reasons that cause frequent silt accumulation and complains of sewerage blockade are lodged by residents of different areas of the city.

Employees of the Municipal Corporation install the machine over sewerage and take out silt and pile it up on road.

Uncovered sewerage in the walled area

A large portion of sewer network in the walled city is still lying uncovered. These narrow channels or drains, called ‘nalliya’ in local lingo, pose a challenge for safai karamcharis to clean.

They have a common grouse that the inhabitants of these areas were disposing all kinds of waste material in open drains. They complained that they removed solid waste and plastic bags from sewer every day, but the next morning things were the same.

This unchecked solid waste coupled with plastic bags may be flowing into covered drains thus obstructing the flow of sewage. It leads to waterlogging on main roads for long hours, whenever it rains in the city.

Tung Dhab, City Outfall drains around city

There are two drains surrounding the city. Tung Dhab passes through its periphery and another is the City Outfall drain. Former is located in the north while the latter is situated in the south. Both drains merge near Khasa, where it is known as Hudiara drain. From here the drain heads to Pakistan, where it is known by the same name.

Sharma said Tung Dhab was among the several drains developed across the state in 1955 to prevent and control floods. “Hence, covering the drain will defeat its very objective. Besides, it will put the city at risk in case of a flood like situation,” he added.

Officials vouch for covering of open drains

Officials of the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board said, “Covering of drains is necessary as densely populated localities are situated along these. Though original purpose of these drains is to carry rainwater, but over the years they are also used for carrying domestic and factory waste.”

They agreed that uncovered sewer in the walled city led to choking of covered drains. They said open sewer should also be covered at the earliest. As a major of part of the city was unplanned there was not enough space to lay separate storm water drains and sewerage as was the case with a planned city like Chandigarh, they added.