The answer of the staff stumped Bansal. “How can they say such a thing? This belt has reported many cases of flourosis and other associated problems. People should themselves take care of their health. We have made a plan to cover the city for 100 per cent water supply and sewer lines’ project under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), on which Rs 50 crore will be spent. This Central grant has been okayed, but the work will start only after elections.”

A number of families have attached RO systems with the groundwater supply, which comes from seven feet depth.

Notably, public health experts and even the doctors in the area have declared upper level water unfit. The report was also sent to the National Rural Health Mission last year. “Less digging means less money, and water at upper level also looks clean,” said Ram Krishan, a resident near the Civil Hospital.

Notably, the city gets water from a canal which travels via Ludhiana and hence gets polluted with heavy metals through the Buddha Nullah. But the water is filtered on the water works campus and then supplied to the city. However, more than half of the city does not get this water. For more than a month, the canal water was not being supplied due to repair work, forcing the city to be completely dependent on groundwater and bore-wells. The supply resumed only a few days ago, after repeated complaints by the residents and farmers.

This is not all, filters of the water works, which should be replaced every year, have not been changed for four years.

... contd.