Family mourns 8-year-old child lost to filth in Mauli Jagran

CHANDIGARH: On the sewage-caked streets of Mauli Jagran on Friday, a man wrapped his eight-year-old daughter in a spotless white cloth, a stark contrast to the filth around him. Hands trembling, he packed her blankets and medicines and placed her gently in a tempo, to bid her a final farewell.A few hours earlier, the child had been rushed to PGI, Chandigarh from a govt hospital in Panchkula, Sector 6, but was declared brought dead there. The devasted father feels his child died due to the unhygienic condition of the locality they live in. The parents point to the road outside their house, which looks like a swamp reeking with overflow from sewage drains to support their claim.The MC chief engineer said that after receiving complaints from Mauli Jagran, a team collected random water samples and testing would begin. However, councillor Ram Chander Yadav said, "I have been raising this issue in house meetings for the past four years. Nothing changes. Sewage water continues to flow through taps, and sickness is everywhere."The grief-stricken father, Suraj Kumar, a CTU bus conductor, said, "Many children here used to fall ill with jaundice and water-borne diseases, but I never thought my daughter would meet the same fate. She was our only child. Now, my wife and I will have to live with this void for the rest of our lives."Residents from across the area voiced similar concerns. The common thread running through almost every household is illness. Persistent stomach ache, diarrhoea, typhoid, jaundice, and in severe cases, hepatitis, have become routine. Kanu Verma, who has been actively filing complaints through govt apps and the CPGRAMS portal, said nothing has changed. She and her niece recently recovered from jaundice and typhoid."There are days when we don't have water supply at all. When it does come, it is muddy or has a foul smell," said Shanti Devi. Bineeta, whose daughter recovered from jaundice two months ago, lives in constant fear of suffering the same fate as Suraj Kumar. "It feels like the danger is always looming," she said.Local doctor Anita Garg said that in her 11 years of service in the area, the past two months have been the worst where incidence of water-borne diseases is concerned. "We are seeing four to five cases of water-related illnesses every day," she said. Another local doctor, who requested not to be named, said that in 28 years of practice in the area, the water issue had never been permanently resolved.Councillor Manoj Kumar said whenever complaints are received, water samples are tested and sewage cleared but the ground reality remains grim. He added that all the three tubewells in the area stopped functioning four to five days ago and repair work was currently underway.Mauli Jagran is not an isolated case. Similar complaints have been reported from Sector 49, Chandigarh, where residents complained of foul smelling water. While the issue has been resolved there, residents said they had to spend their own money to get sewage pipes repaired. Even now, there are days when the smell reappears.Despite repeated complaints and continued sampling, residents say tragedy haunts them. With another child lost, they fear more families may suffer if nothing is done.