Drains clogged, Monsoon Around the Corner. How Faridabad's Gochi Drain is proving to be a misery for the locals.
The Gurgaon irrigation canal, which runs across the region for 30 kilometers, has effectively turned into a sewer, with the water unfit for the purpose for which it was constructed.
Now and then locals face many difficulties due to Gochi open drain. This is the main cause of water clogging, leaving aside foul smell that they are forced to bear 24x7. Municipal Corporation of Faridabad spends over 1 crore every year for the cleaning of drains in the city before monsoon but this year it is still pending, thanks to the pandemic.
The canal takes water from the Yamuna near Okhla (Delhi) and flows with the Agra canal till it reaches Ballabhgarh town. A local that wants to be unnamed told that “I have a shop just adjacent to the drain at the end of gurudwara road. I am forced to bear the foul smell. Sometimes I feel like selling my shop and shift somewhere else but my financial condition doesn’t allow me to do so”
During the monsoon, the municipal infrastructure here is exposed, since the bulk of city roads and colonies are flooded under 2-3 feet of water in the event of persistent rainfall. Nearly all 60 villages in the Faridabad and Gurgaon districts receiving water from it have had a significant increase in health problems, particularly cancer.
Yesterday MLA Neeraj Bhatia posted on Facebook and told the locals that he has informed MC Commissioner, Garima Mittal about the issue. Last year many houses around the drain witnessed overflow that led to a very unpleasant experience. Water from the drain comes inside the houses and locals are forced to have many sleepless nights during the monsoon.
On the same day, A JCB was seen cleaning one end of the drain that led to blockage of the road for nearly 5 hours.
“We are the residents of Parvatiya Colony, Near Bal Kalyan School, Ward No- 5, Faridabad, we have a complaint regarding water logging in our area. Due to sewage drainage, our roads are filled with muddy/dirty water. This is not just creating issues for pedestrians but water is filling inside the houses also. It is full of smell and can create harmful diseases. Please do something in this matter as it is creating havoc for all the residents”, posted by a local on https://www.consumercomplaints.in/.
“Member of so-called smart city, Faridabad. Living in sector-55, house no. 893 near gochi moad. There is no drainage system in our lane, water gets collected on the road and causes the problem. Apart from the inconveniences that it causes, it also brings miseries problems. During the rainy season, a lot of water-borne disease spreads. These diseases lead to epidemics. Please do the needful for our society, we are facing a huge problem because of no proper drainage system in our lane. Water gets collected on the road even after one week of rainfall, imagine how we are doing our daily tasks as far as we are not able to cross the road just because of this water logging problem. I request you to take immediate actions and do the needful.”, another local posted on the same website with pictures of flooded streets.
MC Commissioner Garima Mittal, however, claimed that the cleaning procedure had already begun and that the drive to make all outlets and the sewage treatment plant (STP) operational was underway. One of the Executive Engineers, on the other hand, has been served with a notice for carelessness.
While it remains an issue during every election, some work has been done in recent years. The drain has a ceiling around it that prevents accidents. Before the recent development many incidents of vehicles slipping inside it was evident. Still people look forward for a permanent solution of the same
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