A petrol pump in Indirapuram remained shut on Thursday due to collection of sewage water inside its premises. The pump is situated at the T-point curving towards Shakti Khand from the Mohan Nagar Link Road.
The waterlogging was 3-4 feet deep. The “In & Out” outlet, which is in the same campus of the petrol pump, was also affected as the water got accumulated inside it. The store was also shut.
On the other side of the road, there are high rise apartments whose residents also complained of waterlogging. They also complained about huge stench emanating from the sewage water accumulated on the road.
The workers said that they see this kind of scene every year. “Every year during the monsoon, we face this problem,” one of the workers said.
However, this is the first time that the water has stayed for the whole day, said petrol pump’s manager Satya Prakash. Prakash said, “The water recedes usually after the use of water pump machine. But, today, even after running water pumps for several hours, water level did not go down.”
Petrol pump’s owner Himanshu Bhardwaj was also surprised with the situation. “This is the first time that the petrol pump was full of water for the whole day. It is uncertain whether it’ll be operational tomorrow,” said Bhardwaj.
Bhardwaj alleged that three Sewage Treatment Plants, which are situated just a few meters away, was the reason behind unprecedented water accumulation.
“Those three STPs are running on full capacity. STP’s have two drains. One is located in front of the station and the other is across the road. When they run on full capacity, the sewage water from the drain overflows and gets collected in our campus,” added Bhardwaj.
Bhardwaj also said that as the level of petrol pump’s ground is lower than the road, it is prone to the waterlogging.
The workers informed City Spidey that this kind of situation happens around 5-6 times in a year. They also shared their worries of getting infected and ill as the collected water is contaminated.
While asking whether they have put up the issue in front of the authorities, the manager informed that complaints have been sent several times to GDA but the authority replied that the water coming to the plant can’t be stopped.
Bhardwaj said that the main issue is with the size of drains. “This is the lack of urban planning and negligence at the end of GDA. The drains are incompetent for the smooth passage of sewage water when the plants function on full capacity,” he said.
On asking how much loss the business has suffered with the suspended operation of the pump, Bhardwaj apprised that sale of 25,000 litres of oil was hit on Thursday.
He also said that apart from monetary loss, it’s the crisis which should be considered. “We cater to lakhs of people living in this area and it was disheartening to see them returning hopeless from the pump,” Bhardwaj said.
He also informed that Jal Nigam’s executive engineer visited the petrol pump on Thursday and Chief engineer will be visiting on Friday.
