Gutters throwing up, sicken Chandigarh residents

CHANDIGARH: The city's well-planned, underground sewerage built along the natural slope from north to south is cracking up. Sewages spills are noticed at many junctions.
The city's wastewater flows through a network of different-diameter pipes under gravity and these channels have started bursting, sloshing the roads with sewage. In many sectors, the dividing roads are dampened with this overflowing muck from the manholes, creating an unhygienic, filthy environment in these areas. The foul smell is making people sick. "It's hell," claimed a resident in one of the areas of overflow.
The spills have become frequent over the past seven days on the dividing road of sectors 22 and 23, near the bicycle track of Sector 22-A, behind Leisure Valley, on the dividing road of sectors 10 and 11, and at many spots in the southern sectors. Randhir Singh, a resident of Sector 10, said: "Sewage spill from the manholes near Leisure Valley is a very disturbing sight for the morning walkers. Instead of fresh air, they get to foul smell. The UT administration is doing little to plug these leaks. The wastewater has continued to overflow for the past one week."
Residents in many sectors have reported similar spills that are dangerous for public health. Chandigarh-based environmentalist L R Budhaniya said: "I have been bringing this to the notice of the UT officials regularly but they have taken no action, so far, to plug these massive leaks. The volume of spill is alarming, one that can cause outbreaks in the city. The UT administration has not been paying heed to any complaint or warning, and it seems it will act only when some major epidemic happens."
Many main roads were covered with sewage, said Budhaniya. "The foul smell around these spots was unbearable," he added. Residents, morning walkers especially, have strong objection to lack of response from the municipal corporation and the UT administration.
Kavita Jain, a resident of Sector 23, said: "My family had to abandon its routine of going out for walks in our locality after dinner because we felt like spilling out our guts while crossing the spots where the roads were covered with overflow. The other people I know in the neighbourhood have also stopped their morning walks along these roads. We are robbed of fresh air and forced to live in an unhealthy environment."
The woes of residents do not end here, as people living in some of the southern sectors said their gutters were in a similar condition. Sewage was coming out of manholes and mixing with the garbage and foliage dumped on the roads. The slush has started giving the roads of this City Beautiful an ugly look.