LUCKNOW: Getting clean water supply seems to be a distant dream for residents of Old City as the basic reason behind it remains unaddressed and authorities have not yet taken any action on it.
After residents vociferously raised the issue of dirty water supply fpr three weeks, the irrigation department finally opened Sharda Canal's supply to Gomti which helped raise the river reach its standard level of 346.7 feet. The enhanced supply consequently diluted pollutants. However, Old City residents continue to grapple with dirty pale yellow supply because a major drain in the area, Nagariya Nullah, keeps overflowing and spilling
sewage into the river.
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TOI recently carried a series highlighting how the Gomti has turned into a drain due to rising pollution level. Many drains carrying sewage from different parts of the city are being emptied into the river. While it will take some time to enhance the capacity of treatment plants and construction of more intercepting drains to check flow of sewage into the Gomti, the LMC and Jal Sansthan can at least take measures to check contamination of the river stretch used to supply drinking water to nearly half of the households in the city. The problem of overflowing drains will increase in the monsoon. Civic authorities must find a solution by then.
The drain covers much of the catchment area of Old City and carries sewage from Dubagga, Gaughat, Cattle Colony, Harinagar, Campbell Road, Radha Gram etc.
The drain is tapped near Gaughat Pumping Station and the sewage is carried to Daulatganj STP which has a capacity of 56 MLD (million litre per day). However, the old drain does not suffice as both the catchment area and population have grown.
Jal Nigam deploys workers to manually collect the overflowing sewage and putting it back into the drain. However, the overflowing sewage mixes with Gomti at many places and flows ahead, polluting the raw water being supplied to Gaughat Pumping Station.
Rishabh of Aishbagh says, "We have been getting stinking water for the past month. The colour is pale yellow and water is unfit for even being used for washing, let alone drinking or cooking. Many people in the area have fallen ill, while the majority complain of stomach ache."
Jal Sansthan officials said that they have asked Jal Nigam to augment its pumping infrastructure soon so that no sewage from drain flows into the river.
A Jal Nigam employee cleans the Nagariya drain on Friday