BHOPAL: There seems to be no end to civic woes for residents of Rachna Nagar and Gautam Nagar. A large open sewer, which was once a babbling stream, is a glaring example of civic authorities’ apathy towards the area.Senior citizens living in the area told TOI how the stream became an open drain and waste-dumping ground due to lack of septic tanks in the adjoining colony of Rachna Nagar.“Rachna Nagar has no septic tank while the two septic tanks of Gautam Nagar are also not functioning. As a result, all the solid waste is dumped in the ‘nulla’ and it has become a home for pigs and stray dogs. People throw all kinds of waste in it and there is a persistent foul smell of rotting waste,” said P C Sharma, who retired as an additional director from technical education department.His son Anurag Sharma who lives in Mumbai has complained to the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) several times and also raised the issue on Twitter. He tried to draw the attention of chief minister Kamal Nath to the problems in the area also, but in vain.“I have tweeted to the CM, CMO, BMC commissioner, MLAs Vishwas Sarang and Krishna Gaur, besides mayor Alok Sharma, a number of times, but no action has been taken so far. I had even tweeted to the then CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan , but things did not improve. It is a big problem as no colony is supposed to discharge solid waste into a water body. The whole area gets flooded in the rains and it takes months to clean our houses”, he said.The area is also infested with snakes and all kinds of insects making the life of local residents all the more miserable during the monsoon.“Both the empty plot and the drain house a number of snakes and we have to call snake catchers every now and then to get rid of them. The second last plot of the colony has been vacant for last 30 years and is a breeding ground for insects and snakes. We have to pay from our pockets to keep the plot clean, but fear of snakes makes even cleaning difficult. It is a persistent problem,” said S V Pradhan, a resident.Retired PWD engineer L K Shrivastava suggested construction of a sewer line in Rachna Nagar can solve all the problems as it would prevent water from getting stagnant in the open drain.“The sewer line is necessary to ensure the proper flow of water. The problem arises when solid waste is dumped into it. The large open sewer gets choked and the water stagnates there. If the water keeps flowing then it does not create a problem. I suggest that a 0.5 meter wide pipeline should be laid through these areas so that the solid waste can have a proper outlet,” he said.

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