‘Lack of maintenace in rly colonies, have become breeding ground for mosquitoes’

Ludhiana: With dengue threat looming large, residents of railway colonies said without proper maintenance, their colonies have become breeding grounds for mosquitoes. The wild grass all around, choked sewages and crumbling walls of the quarters have exposed the tall claims of the railway authorities that they provide better infrastructure to railway employees residing in various railway colonies. To make matters worse, the health department of the railway is yet to do fogging around railway colonies.
Now with heavy rainfall, railway colonies are a ticking dengue bomb, said railway staff.
The employees insist railway’s famed ‘swachhta’ campaigns are limited to stations. The authorities are not concerned about the condition of the colonies, they allege. Even the overhead water tanks are not maintained properly in the colonies due to which the water overflows and stagnates, again making it a perfect breeding for mosquitoes. Last year, the anti-larvae team of the district health department had found that the railway colonies 10, 11 and 12 are larvae-infested.
There are 13 railway colonies in the city and 1,770 quarters. The ill-maintained quarters are not fully fit for living said the residents, pointing out in the last few months, railway authorities had tried to pull down these buildings and construct new ones, but nothing came of it.
Some employees took to the social media to share pictures of rainwater entering their rooms. When the TOI team visited some of the railway colonies mentioned, it became clear that lack of a proper drainage system at the colonies visited had resulted in the pooling of the rainwater on the roads.
“During evenings, we just cannot relax outside, mosquitoes attack us in droves. The congress grass has grown so tall, that occasional snakes sneak into colonies. They really have to clear the clutter here,” said a resident, who did not want to be named.
Ludhiana railway station director Tarun Kumar said, “I will take up the matter with engineering and health department of the railway to take appropriate measures. There is a long-term plan o demolish several year old railway colonies and develop them. We are also planning to install a rainwater harvesting system to overcome waterlogging issues.”