Hollow Smart City claims
Even as the municipal corporation (MC) continues to project Ludhiana as a smart city and spends crores on beautification and infrastructure projects, the grim reality of Pritam Colony in Giaspura exposes the hollowness of these claims. Residents are grappling with acute water crisis, with yellow, foul-smelling water — suspected to be mixed with sewage — flowing into household taps and posing serious health hazards. A city can’t truly be called “smart” if its citizens are denied basic needs and forced to live under constant threats of disease and contamination. The MC must be held accountable for endangering public health. At the same time, residents must strengthen collective action and assert pressure for their fundamental rights.
Novin Christopher
Can’t neglect public health
The situation undermines Ludhiana’s projection as a “smart city” and its pursuit of cleanliness rankings. With recurring breakdown of basic civic infrastructure and public health being neglected, the prestigious urban development tags would mean very little. Addressing the crisis requires balancing clear institutional accountability with active civic mobilisation. The smart city mission has faced criticism for focusing heavily on area-based development and cosmetic beautification, rather than citywide basic infrastructure. While crores are spent on visible flagship projects, people in industrial and dense residential pockets like Giaspura continue to drink unclean water. The discrepancy highlights an inequitable renewal process where vulnerable working class neighbourhoods bear the brunt. Access to potable water is a fundamental right and the MC has a legal and moral obligation to maintain safe infrastructure.
Sukhdev Sharma
Heightened Risks of water-borne diseases
Though Ludhiana proudly celebrates its smart city status and cleanliness rankings, the failure to provide safe drinking water in several colonies exposes a gap between claims and ground reality. A smart city should not be judged by awards alone, but by its ability to ensure basic services for its residents. Irregular or contaminated water supply can endanger public health by spreading water-borne diseases. The authorities must be held accountable for negligence and poor infrastructure management. Residents should also take collective action through complaints, resident welfare groups and awareness campaigns. Development becomes meaningful only when it improves the daily lives of ordinary people.
Suneet Kaur
Adds to financial burden on people
Residents face mounting health risks and extra financial burden due to contaminated water supply. Access to clean drinking water is a fundamental right and the MC has a statutory and legal obligation to provide it. Residents also pay civic and water charges. However, holding civic authorities accountable and mobilising residents are not mutually exclusive. Both elements are critical to solving the crisis. Administrative changes are often affected when residents demand them aggressively. Community groups can escalate the issue to judicial bodies, like the permanent Lok Adalat or the National Human Rights Commission. Protests and media engagement can put pressure on local leaders to allocate budgets for replacement of aging and dilapidated pipeline networks, where drinking water supply is frequently compromised by leaking sewage. Residents can organise to file a joint petition, engage local media and use legal grievance channels to force the MC to fix the infrastructure.
RS Sembhi
Question mark on smart city tag
The situation raises a question on the credibility of Ludhiana’s smart city tag and cleanliness rankings. The MC should be held accountable if it fails to provide even basic needs.
Sucha Singh Sagar Bullowal
MC’s focus is on superficial facelift
The situation depicts gross failure on the part of the MC. It has more interest in superficial facelift of the city and photo-ops. The ground situation has always been pathetic. There are no easy ways to raise grievances and escalate them to higher authorities. It is high time the authorities concerned wake up from their slumber. Otherwise, they will have to face public’s anger.
Ravinder Mittal
Claims differ from reality
The MC’s pursuits of smart city tag and water certifications are in stark contrast with the ground reality. While officials report progress, residents face public health crisis due to systemic failures. In the Industrial Area, a water pipeline was found running through a sewer manhole for a decade, an engineering lapse termed an “open invitation to disease”. Residents of Basti Jodhewal reported sewage mixing into tap water for months, forcing them to buy bottled water. The city’s primary water testing lab is shut. A recent health department audit found 42 out of 612 samples contaminated. A flagship 24×7 water supply project is years behind schedule. While the authorities must be held accountable, residents must also act collectively. The failures are too systemic to rely on one of the factors alone.
Mohammad Saleem Farooqui
Issue explained
While Ludhiana pursues the smart city label and flaunts its cleanliness rankings, the reality in colonies such as Pritam Colony reveals a stark failure: absence of safe drinking water. It is a breach of public health responsibility, exposing hollowness of MC claims. A smart city can’t exist without ensuring basic amenities, and lack of potable water undermines governance and dignity of residents. The issue raises two dimensions of accountability. While the municipal corporation must answer for neglecting its duty and endangering citizens’ health, the residents can’t remain passive either. Collective action, whether through protests, petitions or legal recourse, is essential. The aspirations will remain hollow unless governance reforms are matched by an empowered citizenry demanding transparency, equity and the fulfillment of basic needs.
Question for next week
Roadside vendors selling eatables have mushroomed across the city, becoming a convenient choice for many. However, concerns about hygiene and food safety persist. Should the Health Department intensify monitoring of street food vendors or is it more important to support the micro-businesses providing affordable meals and livelihood?
