The Patiala Municipal Corporation (MC) has started cleaning and desilting the Jacob Drain ahead of the monsoon season to improve the city’s stormwater drainage network and reduce the risk of flooding in its low-lying vulnerable areas.
At Sullar village, a poke lain machine was seen removing accumulated silt and wild vegetation from the drain, and loading it into a tractor-trolley, while a JCB machine was engaged in cleaning operations around 100 metres away.
Rajinder Kumar, a resident who lives across from the drain, said the pace of cleaning and desilting work at the drain was slow, which raised doubts over the MC’s claim of completing the work before the onset of monsoons.
The civic body recently floated a tender worth Rs 21.02 lakh for cleaning and desilting the drain from Kale Mooh Di Bagichi to Sullar Pully under its jurisdiction. Although the Jacob drain stretches for nearly 20 km passing through the city, the MC is responsible for maintaining only a 5-km portion, while the remaining stretch falls under the jurisdiction of the state’s drainage department.
Former Mayor Sanjeev Sharma Bittu called the cleaning and desilting exercise an ‘eyewash’, stating that during his tenure, the MC had undertaken a Rs 16-crore project to upgrade the drain by constructing retaining walls, strengthening side linings and covering portions of the 18-foot-wide channel to create walkways and green spaces.
“The Jacob Drain was transformed into a modern urban drainage corridor. However, lack of maintenance during the past two years has resulted in the accumulation of untreated sewage, weeds and silt, undoing much of the work carried out earlier,” Sharma alleged.
Mayor Kundan Gogia, however, said the contractor had been directed to complete the cleaning and desilting work before the rainy season. The Jacob Drain, which passes through the heart of the city and touches the boundary of the MC office, plays a crucial role in carrying stormwater out of Patiala city. The accumulation of silt, garbage and wild vegetation has reduced its carrying capacity, increasing the threat of waterlogging in nearby localities during heavy rainfall.
Originating near Kale Mooh Di Bagichi in Raghomajra and flowing past several key city landmarks before reaching Sullar Road Pully, the drain ultimately discharges into the Ghaggar river basin.
