Contaminated water supply troubles Rohtak residents
Ravinder Saini
Rohtak, April 28
The contaminated water supply in multiple localities in the city continues to trouble residents, who have raised the issue stridently for several days but have not got any relief. Deputy Commissioner (DC) Ajay Kumar has directed Public Health and Engineering Department (PHED) officials to address the problem at the earliest, even if they are compelled to employ extra labour for it.
The ultimatum given by the Congress to the district authorities to solve the problem ended today and now, party leaders are gearing up to take out a march in the city on Monday to register their protest against the “lethargic” attitude of the authorities towards this issue.
Residents of Kalana Mohalla here claimed to have received the supply of contaminated water on Sunday as well. “We have approached the CM window to get the issue resolved, but the situation remains the same even after a month. The blackish water with foul smell is still being supplied, forcing residents either to fetch potable water from other places or to buy it from the market,” said Suresh Kumar, a resident.
Local Congress MLA Bharat Bhushan Batra said he had received complaints that contaminated water is being supplied to over 20 colonies that included Model Town, DLF Colony, Mansarovar Colony, Vikas Nagar, Luxmi Nagar, Jasbir Colony, Kabir Colony, Tilak Nagar, Babra Mohalla, Chinaut Colony, Srinagar Colony, Vijay Nagar, Jati Mohalla, Grain Market, Gopal Colony, Pratap Chowk, Tek Nagar, Tej Colony etc.
“Providing potable water to every citizen is the responsibility of the state government, but it has utterly failed to fulfil it. People are falling ill after drinking contaminated water. It is unfortunate that the authorities are just making statements instead of redressing the problem despite a number of public complaints,” he added.
Batra said since the authorities have failed to redress the grievance within a certain time frame, the Congress, along with leaders of the INDIA bloc, will hold a protest march on Monday. The march would start at Mansarovar Park and conclude at the Mini-Secretariat where a memorandum will be submitted to the administration authorities. “We will not hesitate to take any big step if the problem is not solved,” he warned.
DC Ajay Kumar said providing potable water to residents is the priority of the district administration and any kind of negligence in this matter will not be tolerated.
Holding a meeting of PHED officials on Saturday, the DC also sought a reply from them regarding the complaints about drinking water in Model Town and DLF Colony.
Forced to buy water
We have approached the CM window to get the issue resolved, but the situation remains the same even after a month. Blackish water with foul smell is still being supplied, forcing residents either to fetch potable water from other places or to buy it from the market. — Suresh Kumar, Resident
