Lahore: Al-Noor town residents dismayed by delay in sewage works

[LahoreEstate]

* Project begun three months ago still incomplete
* Residents say mobility restricted, area full of mud and dust

By Rana Kashif

LAHORE: An excessive delay in laying sewerage pipelines after having dup up various sites is proving problematic for the residents of Alnoor Town, an adjacent locality to the Defence Housing Authority.

The area’s residents told Daily Times on Saturday that their streets had become “trenches coupled with heaps of dust” after the Walton Cantt Board started laying sewerage pipelines in the area.

Incomplete: They said the board’s works were still incomplete despite starting three months back. “The authorities concerned are not taking notice of the problems faced by the residents of the area,” they said.

Muhammad Rehan, a resident, said, “People have been unable to drive in the streets since the authorities have dug up most of the roads and have yet to put the dirt back in.”

Menace: He said that in addition to the restricted mobility, another problem was that people were being forced to inhale “a lot of dust”, adding that the airborne dust would eventually result in an increase in lung-related diseases such as asthma.

Another resident, Muhammad Javed, said two or three of the residents in the area had rented out their homes and moved to other areas.

They demanded that the authorities concerned complete the work without any further delay. Some residents expressed reservations about any further works that the authority conducted “because those works would also be delayed”. Walton Cantt Board senior engineer Abu Hanif Saadi said the works had been started after repeated requests by residents of the area, adding that almost 80 percent of the work had been completed, with the remaining 20 percent expected to be completed by the end of the year. He said the residents of the area were indeed facing problems, but the development works had been “their choice”. He said work was being done while making sure it did not damage anyone’s property, adding that in case somebody’s property was damaged, the authorities would address all concerns.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg13_2