Ambala, July 28:- A delegation of Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) workers, under the leadership of State Spokesperson Onkar Singh, met Municipal Council Executive Engineer Surinder Singh today and demanded basic amenities for the public in Ambala Cantt. The delegation demanded the immediate completion of the city's dilapidated roads, incomplete sewerage works, and projects pending for years under the AMRUT scheme.
Speaking on the occasion, State Spokesperson Onkar Singh stated that public money is being wasted in the name of development works in Ambala Cantt today. Despite spending crores of rupees, people are facing hardships instead of getting facilities. He said that under the AMRUT scheme, sewer pipes were laid in several colonies about five to six years ago, but in most areas, small-diameter pipes were installed which have not been made operational to date. Due to non-use for years, these pipes are filled with mud, rendering an investment of crores of rupees futile.
Onkar Singh remarked that the functioning of the Municipal Council and related departments is completely unorganized. One road is dug up and left incomplete, then a second and third one are dug up. Instead of completing construction work, excavation continues. The public has to suffer consequences in the form of dust, potholes, traffic jams, and accidents.
He stated that the biggest irony is that in most areas where sewer lines have been laid, no Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) have been installed to date. Building a sewer network without an STP is not viable in any way. The Sewage Treatment Plant should have been completed first, and then sewer lines should have been laid in the colonies so that the public would have benefited immediately and pipes would not have been ruined due to years of inactivity. He pointed out that most colonies in Ambala Cantt already have their own septic tanks. Therefore, the priority should be to transport wastewater scientifically from these septic tanks through pipelines to the Sewage Treatment Plant. This would provide facilities to more people at a lower cost and ensure environmental protection.
INLD demanded that the Municipal Council administration make a time-bound action plan public for all incomplete road and sewer projects, investigate unnecessarily delayed projects, and take action against responsible officers and contractors. No road should be dug up in the future until ongoing work is completed. The delegation warned that if roads and the sewer system in Ambala Cantt are not improved soon, the INLD party will be forced to launch a massive public agitation with public support.