Una MLA Satpal Singh Satti today submitted two memorandums to Municipal Commissioner Prithi Paul Singh, highlighting civic issues such as the stray dog menace, drinking water shortage, sewer expansion and flooding in parts of the city during the monsoon. Municipal councillors and prominent residents accompanied him.
Satti said stray dogs in several parts of Una city had become a threat to public safety over the past month. Nearly half a dozen incidents involving attacks on children, women and lone pedestrians had been reported. Some of these incidents, captured on CCTV cameras, had been widely circulated on social media.
Satti said the Municipal Corporation (MC) was responsible for ensuring residents’ safety and should formulate a comprehensive plan to address the issue.
Raising concerns over the increasing stress on groundwater resources due to continuous extraction, Satti urged the MC to explore the possibility of lifting water from the Sutlej near Bhabour Sahib on the Nangal Dam reservoir or from Raipur Maidan on the Bhakra Dam reservoir for supply to city residents. He said the demand for water had increased after the urban area was upgraded from a Municipal Council to a Municipal Corporation, with 14 adjoining villages being merged into the city limits.
The MLA also demanded the extension of the piped sewer network to the 14 newly merged village panchayats to facilitate planned development and maintain sanitation standards.
Highlighting another major concern, Satti said several low-lying areas of the city continued to face chronic waterlogging and flooding during the monsoon season. He said Rs 43-crore project for constructing concrete drains across various localities had been prepared during the previous BJP government. While eight drains were completed at a cost of Rs 19.5 crore, the remaining works were still pending, he added.
Responding to the concerns, Prithi Paul Singh said nearly 80 per cent of the city’s stray dogs had already been sterilised and the remaining canine population would be covered soon. He said an estimate exceeding Rs 1 crore had been prepared for a dog shelter equipped with cubicles, a veterinary facility and a kitchen. Revenue officials had been asked to identify suitable land within or around Una city for the project.
On drinking water supply and sewerage expansion, the Municipal Commissioner said his office had taken up the matter with the Jal Shakti Department. The department had sought funds for a preliminary survey, after which a detailed project report would be prepared, he said.
