Ludhiana: Getting pure water is a new battle in Ward 5

LUDHIANA: At a time when Covid-19 has thrown life out of gear, residents of various colonies in ward number 5 in the city are battling water contamination, which has triggered fear of an outbreak of water-borne diseases, including diarrhea, gastroenteritis.
The problem had started a few days back, but no solution has been found so far.
The residents said it has become unimaginable crisis as demand for water has increased with the temperature going up. They have informed the area councillor about water contamination, but the problem could not be fixed. The councillor, however, blamed the use of super suction machines for cleaning of sewerage lines for water contamination.
Residents in colonies, including Shimla Colony, Kailash Nagar, New Kailash Nagar, Gagandeep Colony, Amrit Vihar, Sant Vihar, Laxmi colony and adjoining areas, are passing through this problem of water contamination. The residents said water smells bad and contains a lot of sand.
Suman Sharma, a resident of Shimla Colony, said, “Amid the fear of coronavirus, we are worried about a possible outbreak of other diseases due to this water contamination. The problem existed for the past few days. And after so many calls, the councillor sent one water tanker on Saturday.” She said if this continues like this, people will die without water.
Dr Rajiv Sharma of New Nanda Nagar, who has his clinic in Kailash Nagar, said, “One cannot take bath with this water due to it smell and colour. I have experienced it personally. I had skin itchiness and dryness when I took bath with this water.”
He said there is no use of complaining because nobody listens. He said people with complaints of vomiting and loose motion have already started coming to his clinic and in case this issue is not resolved soon, more people will complain of serious problems. He said he has made a complaint to the civic body over this issue to fix the problem.
Area councillor Neelam Sharma said, “After a gap of almost 30 years, cleaning of choked sewerage line has been started using super suction technique at Kailash Nagar and Kakowal Road. For super suction cleaning, we have to stop sewage flow due to which the contamination problem has surfaced.” She said they have provided six water tankers in the area to supply water so that people don’t not fall sick. “Problem will get resolved in a day or two as the cleaning work will get over by that time,” she added.