What can be a bigger menace for the society than an open drain! Imagine you are an active user of a gym or physical activity enthusiast, eat all the right things and yet suddenly, you see yourself at a Doctor’s clinic! Why? He tells you have respiratory issues and you wonder why! These are type of issues that are caused by the open drain that runs through our community. In the rainy reason, you are enjoying the weather with a hot cup of tea and pakoras, and suddenly a staunch smell emanates and engulfs the whole environment, spoiling not only the mood but making you run inside your house to not only get rid of the smell but also to ensure that you are not bitten by mosquitoes and plagued by endless diseases caused by this.
Now, just try to remember how many times have you got your air-conditioners repaired, got the gas refilled or ever wondered why your refrigerator or TV suddenly goes off! There are high instances of electronic gadgets failure. I have personally faced these issues; the life of the electronic gadgets has shortened. This is actually due to the sulphur gas emanating from the open drains and causing the leaks in the copper pipes of air-conditioners or the motherboard of the electronic gadgets.
Aesthetically speaking, are these open drains a pleasant sight? Certainly not. When you come from Kendriya Vihar, or various societies, and go towards Sectors 50 or 50, you dread crossing the drain and the ugly sight of it – not to mention various filthy encroachments done on the sides of the drain.
So, what is the solution? I think relevant authorities have explored options in the past and even a plan for covering the drai()n and perhaps making a small vendor zone on top of that was something that was explored. Or can do a solar roof – similar to the one done in Gujrat – or develop a horticulture/ green belt. Where is the execution?
It is time we take this on priority. Citizens need to come forward and make appeal to the local MP/MLAs to take the cause forward and get it executed upon. We need to wake up as a group and launch a mission on war front.
(The author is a Class 12th student.)
