Residents of Dhanas show contaminated water, in Chandigarh on Sunday. (Jasbir Malhi)AS MANY as 40,000 people in the EWS colony of Dhanas have been allegedly consuming contaminated water for the past many months. The situation has left many of them suffering with stomach infection and skin problems.
Congress leader Navjot Kaur Sidhu has now got water samples taken from the area after she received complaints that the authorities were giving two hoots to the residents’ requests.
Water to the entire colony is stored in a storage tank which gets its supply from eight tubewells. Residents complained that the tank has not been cleaned for several years.
Ramesh Chander, a resident of the colony, said, “Occupancy in this colony began from 2011 onwards and the storage tank has not been cleaned since then. The public health wing has never returned to clean the tank from where we get our water supply. Instead, they keep it under lock.”
Chander added that when Navjot Sidhu was here to meet people, they told her about this problem and that is when she immediately called up the Municipal Corporation staff and got samples.
Vineeta, a 39-year-old, complained that she has suffered a lot due to the contaminated water. “I am suffering from serious skin allergies due to this water, while my daughter frequently gets stomach infection,” she said, adding that none of the political leaders have helped them despite paying several visits to the area.
Jaipal, a resident, complained, “I have boils on my back and face. With the weather getting warmer, the situation is getting worse now.”
Similar sentiments were echoed by 50-year-old Krishna, whose family is suffering from diarrhoea.
“Why can’t the authorities be a little more human towards us? Not just my family, but my neighbours are also unwell because of the dirty water. We have visited the dispensary thrice in the recent past,” she groused.
Prem Pal Chauhan, another resident, said officials don’t heed their complaints. ‘’I called up the administration officials as this area was under their jurisdiction. But now they say it was transferred to the Municipal Corporation a few months back when they transferred the villages to MC. The corporation is also dilly-dallying. Can’t they just clean the tank?” Chauhan said.
N P Sharma, Superintending Engineer of Public Health of the Municipal Corporation, also passed the buck, saying the area doesn’t fall within their jurisdiction.
