Large parts of north Howrah and Shibpur have been reeling under severe civic services crisis with acute shortage of drinking water, clogged sewerage system and cracks appeared in walls of shanties and local roads adjacent to Belgachia dumping ground, the only site where solid wastes of the entire Howrah city are dumped.

The situations in the Belgachia, Salkia, Liluah, Padmanagar, Benaras Road, Kona and other areas in Shibpur and Central Howrah aggravated further on Monday after sewerage system surrounding the dumping ground collapsed following the Thursday’s landslide during the ongoing repair work in the pipeline connecting an underground reservoir at the wastes disposal site.

Advertisement

Residents of around 22 municipal wards in the northern and central parts in the city have been spending harrowing life without drinking water, disrupted power supply, blocked drainage system and cracked roads and walls of shanties, where mostly scavenging workers of Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) stay.

Several roads like B Road, C Road and Harish Colony close to the dumping ground got waterlogged with blocked drains emitting stench.

While narrating their plights, Devendra Paswan, a local resident, said, “We are not getting drinking water, electricity and food. We have been given shelter at a local school building after cracks appeared in the walls of our homes. The Howrah civic body is hardly bothered about our unbearable plights. The repair work in the pipeline supplying treated water from the underground reservoir at the wastes disposal ground is yet to be completed.”

Aggrieved residents, including women were seen demanding immediate restoration of normal civic services mainly drinking water, cleaning of sewerage system and repair of their damaged shanties and cracked roads. They also demanded their permanent rehabilitations elsewhere when the Kolkata mayor and urban development minister Firhad Hakim visited Belgachia.

Mr Hakim held a meeting with Dr Sujay Chakraborty, administrator of the HMC, and engineers of the civic body and discussed how to restore normal situation in the affected areas. The minister also said that the state government is also exploring how to make alternative arrangements for the rehabilitation of about 2,000 affected residents.

Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of Opposition (LoP) also visited the spot and spoke to the aggrieved residents at Belgachia this afternoon and accused police of physical harassment. Police prevented him from entering the area.

“People across large parts of Howrah area are not getting drinking water and food. Many of them are homeless after cracks appear in the walls of their homes. Yet, police prevented me from entering the area when I wanted to meet affected residents to know their plights,” Mr Adhikari said.