In a major pre-monsoon push to end sewage overflow and urban water-logging, Punjab Local Government Minister S. Harjot Singh Bains on Wednesday unveiled the state’s largest-ever sewerage delisting drive, announcing that 2,200 km of sewer lines and 1,400 chronic hotspots across all cities and towns will be cleared before the rains hit.
Local Government Minister S. Harjot Singh Bains informed that the drive covers 800 kms of main trunk lines and 1,400 kms of branch lines inside mohallas. The department has identified 1,400 chronic hotspots where sewage overflow is reported every monsoon.
“Every year, when rains come, every city and every mohalla has some points where sewage overflows. This time, under the vision of Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann, we have been given a clear target, no sewage overflow anywhere in Punjab’s cities and towns,” S. Bains stated.
Sharing the city-wise breakdown, S. Bains said the drive will cover 108 km of sewer lines and 47 hotspots in Jalandhar, 93 km in Patiala, 40 km and 42 hotspots in Ludhiana, 55 km and 39 hotspots in Bathinda, 36 km in Mohali, 14 km and 15 hotspots in Zirakpur, 11 km and 11 hotspots in Kharar, 7 km and 3 hotspots in Dhuri, 21 km in Kotkapura and 7 km in Nangal, where desilting is being done for the first time.
All local body and Sewerage Board JEs and other staff have been given special training for the drive, said the Local Government Minister, while stating, “We have deployed super-suction machines and high-capacity jetting equipment. Separate control rooms and digital dashboards are being set up for real-time information.”
He further shared that P rogress will be monitored daily through a dashboard and accountability has been fixed from JE to SE level. The drive will be completed in mission mode Sharing a startling example, S. Bains said, “In Ludhiana’s Bhattian area, our team found concrete had been poured inside a sewer line from a house built nearby.
That line was choked for six years, causing trouble for the entire locality. Such negligence will not be tolerated.” Local Government Minister S. Bains said he would personally remain on the field and all officers have been ordered to do the same. “We are involving all our MLAs and MCs as well. Our aim is that this time, you will see a real difference, no water-logging, no sewage back-flow, no dengue-spreading from water stagnation,” he said.