Darjipura’s stinking water row reaches police station

Vadodara: A row over the supply of contaminated water took an ugly turn with the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) registering an offence alleging that one of their workers at a water supply sump in Darjipura was forced to open a sump and a dead pigeon was thrown into it.
On the other end, a senior citizen named in the offence alleged that he was threatened by a VMC official after he came to know of the filth in the sump including a dead pigeon.
The incident took place on Tuesday at the Darjipura water supply sump when a group of residents receiving water from it reached there. The residents had been complaining of low water pressure and stink in the tap water.
The versions of either side, however, change when it comes to the events that transpired after the group reached the sump. VMC deputy executive engineer Sagar Mistry alleged that the group threatened the operator of the sump, Tushar Solanki. He informed Mistry that three persons came to the sump and threatened him and forced him to open the lock of the sump.
Mistry has further alleged that the operator told him that the group threw a dead pigeon in the water and made a video of it. He claimed that the three men also started shouting that the sump was not being cleaned and there was a dead pigeon in it even as a video of even this was made by the accused.
On the other end, one of the persons named in the offence, Rohit Patel, claimed that they had been complaining of stink in the water for quite some time. He submitted a complaint against Mistry addressed to the police commissioner claiming that when they reached the sump and requested Solanki, he opened the sump so that they could check it.
Patel stated that the sump was dirty and there was a dead pigeon in it. He said that he told the engineer that he would complain against him to senior VMC officials. According to Patel, it was the engineer who threatened him.
The issue has sparked a major row as Patel is a 70-year-old senior citizen. The city unit of the Aam Aadmi Party made representations to the police commissioner regarding the incident. It claimed that the offence registered against him and others was false.