Buddha Nullah cleaning: MC stuck with getting nod for estimates

Ludhiana: The MC officials are still stuck with getting approvals for the estimates with regard to the annual cleaning of Buddha Nullah from the authorities concerned even as there are less than two months left for the monsoon to arrive.
The officials were earlier taking the plea that the drainage department had not sent its estimates for cleaning and now they were waiting for the sanction from the authorities concerned. Even last year, the annual cleaning of drain could not be taken up seriously due to which people had to suffer when filthy water got flooded in certain localities.
Last year in August, due to flooding of the Satluj, Buddha Nullah water had also flowed on roads and even entered the houses in areas like Shivpuri, Dhokka Mohalla, New Madhopuri, Dharampura, etc. People had to face tough times due to this.
The drain is full of heaps of garbage at many locations. Usually in April, the cleaning of the drain takes place so that before the rainy season the entire stretch of the drain falling in the MC limits could be cleaned. The civic body had earmarked Rs 2 crore for the annual cleaning of the drain this year while the drainage department had calculated the estimate to be Rs 80 lakh, in which the civic body would get a 14 km-long stretch cleaned, including 26 bridges.
Meanwhile, people residing on the sides of the drain are quite afraid of the rainy season. A resident of Shivpuri, Raman Sharma, said there was no check on throwing of garbage inside the drain and when it came to clearing the garbage, the work would move at a slow pace. He said during the rains they had to face tough time when drain water overflowed in residential areas.
The superintending engineer of operation and maintenance cell, Ravinder Garg, said, “We had written two letters to the drainage department for starting cleaning of drain. They had sent the estimate and as soon as we will get the sanctions from the authorities concerned, we will begin cleaning of the drain.”
Buddha Nullah is the only source to drain out the rainy water from within the city and its 14 km stretch falls within MC limits. But since this drain passes through residential areas, people throw garbage into it. Apart from this, weed growing along with water on the sides creates problem in drainage of water. The MC usually claims to issue challans to the persons who are caught red-handed while throwing garbage inside but now for over a month officials have been deputed on other duties, so challaning has taken a backseat.