Ludhiana: No water, no votes, say protesting Dugri residents

Grappling with erratic water supply for 15 years, residents of Dugri village have threatened to vote against the Congress in the upcoming assembly elections should the issue continue to persist.

Staging a protest on Wednesday, the residents of Ward 43 said Congress councillor Reet Kaur and halqa in-charge Kamaljit Karwal had failed to pay heed to the problem. The residents have also apprised the chief minister, cabinet ministers and the mayor of the issue and their decision.

The residents urged the chief minister have the issue resolved or they will not vote for the Congress candidate from Atam Nagar constituency.

The issue is being faced in around 50 houses on two streets. Residents say supply to the area is disrupted every two to three days, and they have to borrow water from residents on neighbouring streets.

A resident, on condition of anonymity, said, “The municipal corporation is prompt to deliver the water-sewer bills, but not so much in streamlining the water supply.”

A protester, Jaswinder Kaur, said, “ We have to bring water from neighbours in buckets. Tall promises are made during election season, but there is no follow through. As Congress is in power in the state, and our ward is also represented by a Congress councillor, the party and its representatives are accountable. We will not vote for them, if the problem is not resolved, and Congress leaders should also not come to the area seeking votes.”

Residents say that whenever the matter is raised before councillor Reet Kaur and her husband Rupinder Pal Sheela, they tell them to contact Karwal. “However, Karwal fails to come through, and his staff is rude to us,” they said.

Another resident, Nirmal Kaur, said that a new tubewell had been installed in the area a few months back, but it was not being operated. “If it is operated properly, the problem will be resolved, but the councillor is turning a blind eye to the issue.”

Despite, repeated attempts, Congress halqa incharge Kamaljit Karwal remained unavailable for comments. Councillor Reet Kaur’s husband Rupinder Singh said, “A tubewell was specially installed in the area a few months ago to resolve the issue as these houses are situated at a certain height above the ground level. However, the tubewell supplied saline water and residents started falling ill, which is why its use was discontinued. We are trying to find another solution.”

In turn, Rupinder slammed MLA Simarjeet Singh Bains for not paying attention to the residents’ issues.

Residents paying monthly water supply charges to neighbours

With authorities failing to ensure regular water supply, residents have started paying their neighbours who have submersible pumps installed in their respective houses for the service. One of the residents, Binderjit Kaur said,” We are paying ₹2,000 per month to our neighbours who have got a submersible pump installed in their house. Water is supplied to our house through a pipe. We have submitted repeated complaints with the councillor, but to no avail.”