Villagers would get relief from foul smell and overflowing of contaminated water: Deputy Commissioner
By Amrit Pal Brar
Barnala, July 3:
Under mission ‘Tandarust Punjab’ and following the directions of Captain Amarinder Singh led Punjab Government, the process of cleaning and de-silting of ponds in the villages of Barnala district is in full swing and will be completed before the monsoon season to provide clean and hygienic environment to the rural area residents.
Deputy Commissioner Barnala Tej Pratap Singh Phoolka said that there are as many as 311 ponds in the district, out of which 224 required to be cleaned and out of them 142 ponds has been already dewatered by the panchayat department. He said that the process of de-silting has also been commenced on 73 ponds across the district.
Deputy Commissioner said that removal of suspended silt or other earthly material from the ponds would help to reduce the risk of spreading diseases in the monsoon due to contaminated water. He added that besides this, it would also help to lessen the chances of overflowing of pond water which would ensure the hygienic and eco-friendly environment of in the villages.
He said that the officials of Rural Development and Panchayat department have been instructed to speed up the cleaning and de-silting process and reports were being submitted to the government on routine basis.
Meanwhile, District Development and Panchayat Officer Sanjeev Sharma said that in Barnala block, 112 out of total 132 ponds were required to be cleaned, out of which dewatering has been started in 45 ponds and as 24 water bodies were being desilted. He said that in the Mehal Kalan block, only 63 ponds of 86 were required to be cleaned and dewatering process from all of them has been started while desilting process have been started on 29 bodies.
He added that in Shehna block, 49 out of 93 ponds needed cleaning, out of which 34 were being de-watered and silt has been removed from as many as 12 ponds. He said that the cleaning process upon 42 ponds have already been finished across the district.
Sharma said that by increasing the depth of the pond by removing the silt, the people of the villages would get relief from the foul smell and contaminated water. He added that it would also ease the problem of water logging in the drains and low-lying houses around the ponds.
