Silvester D'Souza

Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (SP)

Kundapur, Oct 27: The people living in ward no 22 and 23 of the town municipality here have been getting to know how the life in hell would be after their deaths. On account of the callous attitude of the municipal council which appears to be looking the other way, water mixed with filth and excreta is directly flowing on the roads of these wards. The municipality appears to be unconcerned about the plight of the citizens living in the town. The never ending suffering of the people in Shantiniketan and Kallagar, ward No. 22 and 23 respectively, does not seem to have moved the authorities concerned.

The problem of effluents has aggravated of late but the municipality, which remains unperturbed over the development, is sitting pretty. On Thursday October 26, as usual, water from the drains, effluents, urine and excreta flowed on the roads. The locals, unable to bear the stench, came together and addressed the problem on their own. After Sridevi Nursing Home located in the vicinity complained to the municipality, the municipal authorities arrived here and cleared the work undertaken by the people.

A nursing home, two apartments and a soft drink industry located in this area have been directly releasing untreated effluents into the drains. Because of the effluents, water of wells in the area has become contaminated and undrinkable. The nursing home named above releases water mixed with chlorine directly into the drains because of which locals in general and children in particular are suffering from symptoms of allergy and other ailments. The menace of mosquitoes has made the life worse for the people who get stung by them are afraid of suffering from dengue, malaria etc. The chlorinated water and water with excreta directly flow into the river from here through the drains. The people here say that because of this, presence of coliform has increased in water here.

Every citizen has the fundamental right of getting access to clean air and water. The town municipality has bagged an award for being cleanest municipality but a closer look reveals that there is filth everywhere. People have been expressing their dissatisfaction about the municipality which collects taxes from the people but has failed to provide them basic facilities. It is also being said that the concerned have erred in not using pipes of the size required to handle the pressure when undertaking underground drainage work.

People hope that the municipality will at least now wake up and respond to the travails of the people. Citizens expect it to act swiftly and relieve them of this unending problem.