From a pristine port to gutter town...

BHARUCH: Circa 1800. Bharuch was a prime port town. River trade thrived on Narmada and soon a hamlet largely of fisherfolk turned into a lively town of enterprising people. Beautiful villas sprouted on little hilltops overseeing the Narmada, while small houses of exquisite wood and brickwork, filled up the furrows that ran through the unique topography of the town.Bharuch then was at its pristine best.
Cut to 2002. The port has vanished. The three octroi houses that once collected toll from boats scampering on Narmada waters stand in ruin. Most villas have turned into rubble and where once little streams scurried along slopes and threw occasional fountains of rainwater, gutters today reign supreme.
The rot has set in. Stench pervades most of the old town and despite its evolution into an industrial hub, Bharuch residents continue to live amid a flood of sewage.
"This was once a glorious town. Today it has become a slum. People here are living alongside open gutters where pigs make merry and stray animals play in sewage water", says former Bharuch MLA Muhammed Patel. Remembering Bharuch of yore, he said the old glory of the town could be restored, if the municipality so wished.
"We need an underground drainage system. I had urged the municipality to take a loan and create underground drainage. But the then chief officer of Bharuch municipality did not like the idea of borrowing money, so the plan never took off", Patel said.
Most in Bharuch concur that all civic problems of the town, be it in Fata Talav, Maliwad, Vejalpur or the upmarket Panchbatti area, stem from its open gutters. Even senior officers of municipality agree that an underground drainage system can work as a panacea.
"There was a proposal to have underground drainage system with help from World Bank. But it remained only on paper. The municipality is starved of money. Even payment of employees is delayed by two months", said acting chief officer of Bharuch municipality V J Patel.
Mechanical engineer with the water works department of the municipality J F Lokhandwala said a survey had been conducted but lack of funds stifled the underground drainage project. "The topography of Bharuch is such that sewage will automatically run down stream due to gravity. Creating such a drainage system is technically viable but for the funds", he said.
The open gutter in Bharuch runs over 27 km. A proposal to lay underground drainage was proposed in the late ''90s. The drainage system was estimated to come up at the cost of Rs 30 crore. However, after initial survey when consultants demanded their fees, the municipality showed them empty coffers.
Bharuch was deprived of an underground drainage while its people continued to live in unhygienic conditions. "We don''t have any option. Our children face the risk of contracting diseases. All kind of stray animals and insects flourish on these gutters but the municipality is blind. Perhaps only a great tragedy like the Surat plague will shake government apathy", said a resident of Fata Talav area which was once the gateway to the port town.
Today that town has earned the sobriquet of a gutter city.