Residents of CM’s ancestral village feel ‘choked’ by overflowing sewage water

BATHINDA: Residents of Mehraj, the ancestral village of Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh in Bathinda district, are angry over a faulty sewerage system that’s affecting the quality of their lives. They have now started a signature campaign to notify the chief minister in this regard.The villagers have also formed ‘Sewerage Sudhar Committee’ to get the issue resolved and are waiting for Amarinder to come to the village. He had earlier visited Mehraj, a month after taking over as the chief minister for the first time in 2002.Mehraj is one of the biggest villages of Punjab. Its residents alleged that despite belonging to the chief minister’s ancestors, he had failed to get their problem solved. The villagers alleged that neither the nagar panchayat nor the state sewerage and water supply board listened to them.“We are facing lots of problems due to faulty sewerage system laid in 2006 during the previous tenure of Amarinder at the cost of Rs 6 crore. The pipeline from which sewage was to be discharged towards Lehra Dhurkot village was small in size which made it choke. The water treatment plant in the village was also left incomplete, further adding to our woes. After protesting for over a month, we have started a campaign to collect signatures of the residents and will soon hand over the charter to Amarinder,” said Sewerage Sudhar Committee convener Balwant Singh Mehraj.Another resident Baru Satwarg said, “Many times the dirty water even enters our houses during rains, making our lives miserable. When Amarinder became the CM in March this year, we had high hopes. We thought now our miseries will be over and the problem will be solved at the earliest. Even after nearly six months of his coming to power, we are waiting for things to improve. We have contacted the officials and local MLA Gurpreet Singh Kangar, also from the ruling Congress, a number of times but we couldn’t get the desired result.”Villagers Jagsir Singh and Gurtej Mehraj said the nagar panchayat complained that no funds were being allocated for any development. The sewerage system could be set right in Rs 10 lakh but even that amount had not been sanctioned, he said.Congress MLA from Rampura Phool Kangar said, “I have taken up the matter with the CM and soon a committee of experts will visit the village to set things right.”Bathinda deputy commissioner Diprava Lakra said estimate of the sewerage system in Mehraj was being prepared and things were on the right track. “Soon the issue will be resolved,” he said.