12 hours after rain, Bathinda still under water; SAD, Congress in blame game

Bathinda: Even 12 hours after it last rained, most localities of Bathinda were inundated on Wednesday, exposing the city’s near non-existent drainage.

In many areas, residents could not leave home as there was knee-deep water outside. Even the upscale Civil Station area, which houses the residences of the Bathinda range inspector general of police, district and sessions judge, deputy commissioner and the senior superintendent of police (SSP), remained submerged.

Residents blamed the tussle between the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which is ruling the Bathinda municipal corporation, and the Congress, which runs the state government, for their plight. “As the Bathinda MC is headed by Akalis, the civic body is not getting the desired support from the state government,” said a councillor, who did not wish to be named.

Locals said the two parties were more interested in blaming each other than finding a long-lasting, workable solution to the city’s sewerage and drainage problems. “The MC was alerted about such a situation arising out of heavy rain, but no arrangements were made to prevent flooding and water accumulation ahead of monsoon. Only politics was played. Cleaning of sewer lines was not done, and it proved to be dear for residents,” said Sonu Maheshwari, a resident.

Bathinda Congress chief Arun Wadhawan said the previous SAD-BJP government did nothing in 10 years of its rule to provide foolproof sewerage, drainage. “Before monsoon, Congress councillors raised the issue that motors meant for rainwater disposal were not working. Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal released Rs 70 lakh for that in October 2018, but the SAD mayor and his party, which is heading the civic body, did nothing and the MC did not even float tenders. We have been reaching out to people after heavy rains caused problems to them,” said Wadhawan.

Former SAD MLA Sarup Chand Singla claimed that when his party was in power in Punjab, the MC was running affairs smoothly. “After Congress took over, the MC did not get any funds as it is headed by SAD-BJP. Our councillors raised issues and prepared estimates, but funds were not granted,” he said.

When contacted, Bathinda MC commissioner Rishipal Singh said some issues were to be solved. “Water bodies were allowed to shrink or turn non-existent over the years, which aggravated the problem,” he said.