MCG to conduct audit of cleaning of drains after repeated plaints from residents

Gurugram: The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) will conduct an audit of sewerage drains across the city to ensure they are unclogged, officials said on Friday.

Officials said that they have already formed teams that will carry out the audit and inspection within 15 days. Also, proper safety gears will be provided to sanitation workers to ensure their safety, they added.

The initiative was taken after residents of at least six sectors complained to the civic agency regarding overflowing sewage water from drains.

Residents have alleged that sewers and stormwater drains have not been cleaned since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. They said many overflowing drains in the city have flooded internal roads, adding that they are forced to bear the stench as repeated complaints to the civic agency have fallen on deaf ears.

Sevesh N Mathur, a resident of Block F in Sector 57 said that the area smells foul due to the sewage water overflow and it becomes difficult for them to move out of the house. “We have no place left to park our cars and despite paying from our pockets to get the drain cleaned, it gets clogged after every fortnight,” he said.

Joginder Singh, former president of the residents’ welfare association (RWA) at Sushant Lok 3, said that they have written to the MCG for more than 10 times in the last three months, but to no avail.

“There are at least 15 blocked sewers in the area and the continuous overflowing of filthy water has damaged the roads. Residents are forced to wade through the accumulated water every day and on many occasions, the water enters the basements and raises a stench. The foul smell emanating from the contaminated water forces us to remain indoors,” Singh said.

Residents said despite tall claims of cleaning the drains and blocked sewers on a regular basis, the situation has been deteriorating every passing day, exposing the lackadaisical attitude of the civic body.

Sector 45 residents also echoed the same woes. They said the condition of roads have become worse due to the overflowing drains. “Every day, residents have to make arrangements to get the roads cleaned as filthy water has been overflowing for the last three months,” said a resident.

Similarly in sectors 5 and 23, the sewers are clogged and overflowing for the last many days.

Dinesh Vashisht, president, of sectors 3, 5 and 6 RWA, said that residents are facing the problem of overflowing drains for more than six months, leading to foul stench and unhygienic surroundings. “The sewer lines are choked and desilting has not been done in years. The sewage water also floods our houses and basements,” he said.

MCG joint commissioner Naresh Kumar said sanitation teams have carried out desilting of sewer lines and personnel will be sent to the areas to check the ground situation. “We will ensure the issue is resolved at the earliest. We have started auditing the areas from where complaints are regularly being received. We will get the drains cleaned on regular intervals,” he said.