Fund crunch: 8 yrs on, Goraya sewage project goes down the drain

Work on the sewerage treatment plant (STP) at Goraya, which was started during the SAD-BJP rule in 2010, is hanging fire due to delay in the disbursal of funds.

In the absence of the plant, residents are forced to put up with dirty drains and the spread of diseases due to mosquito breeding and contaminated water supply.

Due to the lack of a drainage system, sewage drains into the ponds that have begun overflowing, affecting areas such as Ram Bazaar Market, Rurka Road and Boparai village.

The ₹27-crore sewerage treatment plant was assigned to the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Phagwara. The Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) was to provide funds for it and the authority sanctioned ₹6 crore to start the project in 2011.

After years of delay, the project got ₹2 crore from the ₹13 crore announced under the urban mission grant in 2016. Officials said work was halted for want of funds.

Construction resumed recently after local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu disbursed funds for the completion of sewerage projects in the district. A sum of ₹10.8 crore was sanctioned for the project of which only ₹2 crore was received.

“We are laying the main drain pipeline. Of the 14-km stretch, 11.5 km has been covered,” says Sunny Gogna, the executive engineer (division-2) of the water supply and sewerage board.

Gogna said protesters from Jandiala village are preventing them from laying the pipeline in the remaining 2.5-km stretch.

“We will meet the deputy commissioner on Wednesday and bring the matter to his notice,” he said, adding that once the main drain is ready, work on the STP will be completed provided funds are adequate.

DUE TO THE LACK OF DRAINAGE SYSTEM, SEWAGE DRAINS INTO PONDS THAT HAVE BEGUN OVERFLOWING, AFFECTING AREAS SUCH AS RAM BAZAAR MARKET, RURKA ROAD AND BOPARAI VILLAGE