G N G GROUP

Rudrapur: The Teraj region witnessed loss of life and property (approximately worth Rs 300 crore) due to heavy rainfall that continued for three consecutive days in October last year. In Rudrapur, the district headquarter of Udham Singh Nagar, people were stranded for 60 hours due to the rain spells. The situation was exacerbated due to several civic issues in the city.
According to residents, civic authorities have not yet taken any concrete steps to avoid a similar situation this year. With monsoon around the corner, residents want immediate cleaning of the city's only Kalyani river and several nullahas.
Meena Sharma, former chairperson of the Rudrapur Municipal Corporation (a municipality back then), told"Civic authorities sould be held accountable for waterlogging in the city. Rudrapur lacks a proper sewage system. Even the pipelines are faulty and the water keeps seeping long after the rain spell. Public taxes should be spent for our benefit. Those who compromise the quality of sewage pipelines should be punished."
In a similar vein, Sanjay Juneja, president of the city traders' union, said, "Property worth crores was destroyed due to floods caused by torrential rainfall last year. Trade suffered for days due to the floods and yet, authorities are not resolving the issues scientifically. They go for temporary fixes and repairs to keep the kickbacks coming in". Meanwhile, Sushil Gava, a local social worker, said, "Pollutants are drained into the Kalyani river directly and only 50% of the sewage is treated. The rest just ends up in the river, which flows through a five-kilometre stretch in the city."
When asked about the issue, Harish Chaudhary, RMC spokesperson, said, "Last year was an exception. Such heavy rainfall was not witnessed in four decades. This year, we started the cleaning of the Kalyani river and the nullahs well before the onset of the monsoon. We are also working on a drainage plan.