Punjab elections issue watch: Sewage water flows over road in front of Kansal colony

From sewage water flowing over potholed roads even inside the local market near Block-B to the menace of stray dogs, from unending wait for drinking water connection from Naya Gaon Municipal Council to no official assistance for cleaning the sewerage tanks in Working Women Rural Welfare (WWRW) Society, Kansal residents have a long list of issues to be addressed. The stray dog menace in the area has also failed to catch attention of the authorities.

A visit to the Retired Officers’ Colony near Block B presents an ugly picture of the official apathy with the sewage of the colony, just adjacent to the proposed Tata Camelot Housing Project, flowing over the road connecting the Punjab Secretariat. “Until now, none of the candidates in the fray from the Kharar Assembly constituency has dared to visit our colony seeking votes. Let them come here and we will get them down from their vehicles and ask them to walk on sewage water flowing on the road,” says Prem Singh, a retired officer of the Punjab State Electricity Board.

The entrance to the WWRW Society, just in front of the proposed Tata Camelot Housing Project’s main gate, greets one with an overflowing sewerage tank emanating foul smell. It makes life of nearby residents a hell. Society residents contribute money to get the sewerage tank cleaned and despite repeated complaints, there has been no support from the municipal council.

Despite payment of house tax, the Naya Gaon Municipal Council has not been able to provide drinking water connection to the WWRW Society and the society residents have been left to fend for themselves by re-boring the borewell last year with their own funds as the groundwater level fell down, making it difficult to extract more water. “The water problem has resulted in rifts and infighting among the society members. Some non-elected self-proclaimed society office-bearers disconnected my water connection recently. Finally, I had to approach the Naya Gaon police station and Mohali SSP to get the connection restored,” says M K Sood, a retired PSEB officer.

Despite a stay on the construction activities by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Kansal area till the pendency of the petition challenging construction of Tata Camelot Housing Project, the construction is going on unabated right under the nose of the authorities. The case is pending adjudication before the Delhi High Court on the Supreme Court’s directions. However, private builders can be seen completing their housing projects just at the back of the Punjab Secretariat by the side of the road connecting Naya Gaon and Sukhna Lake.

Jagmohan Singh Kang of the Congress is a sitting MLA of the area and has again been given ticket by the party for February 4 Assembly elections. Aam Aadmi Party candidate and senior journalist Kanwar Sandhu is himself a resident of Kansal and also owns a plot in WWRW Society. The Shiromani Akali Dal has given the ticket to realtor Ranjeet Singh Gill.

Although Punjab cabinet minister Sikandar Singh Malooka and many IAS and IPS officers of Punjab as well as Haryana have their bunglows at Kansal, their blocks do not face such problems.