Residents fear a disease outbreak as garbage remains uncollected for the sixth day
01 August, 2026 – Ludhiana : Ludhiana is stinking. The foul odour that emanates from across the city is accompanied by heaps of garbage at every street corner. Sanitation workers remain on strike for the sixth day. Some say that they are waiting for Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to visit Ludhiana in the coming days — he is expected to inaugurate a School of Eminence here — and raise their concerns directly with him.
Meanwhile, residents say they fear a disease outbreak.
According to Municipal Commissioner Ojaswi Alankar, teams have been constituted to take stern action against those sanitation workers not allowing garbage to be lifted. “The garbage compactor will be started in an hour or so,” Aklankar told The Tribune, saying that some sanitation workers were not allowing the garbage to be lifted.
The latest crisis comes in the wake of three hours of rainfall in this “Smart City” on Thursday morning, which turned roads into rivers and brought life to a grinding halt. The rain inundated homes and commercial establishments, triggering traffic snarls and accidents, while age-old sewer lines overflowed and mingled with the growing mountains of garbage that the city’s striking sanitation workers had refused to pick up.
Mosquitoes breed in stagnant water collected along a road near Pavilion Chowk in Ludhiana. Tribune photo: Himanshu Mahajan
One of India’s leading industrial hubs, Punjab’s richest city is home to well over 100 individuals with an estimated net worth exceeding Rs 100 crore each. Among them are nearly 10 to 15 major business houses with fortunes estimated at Rs 10,000-15,000 crore or more. Yet, despite generating enormous wealth, the city was brought to its knees by just a few hours of rain.
Ironically, many of these industrialists too commute daily through some of the city’s worst-affected stretches, including Transport Nagar, Dholewal Chowk, Pratap Chowk, R.K. Road, Ferozepur Road and Gill Road. Unfortunately, despite several well-meaning Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, no meaningful efforts have been made to improve the city’s drainage infrastructure or make commuting safer and easier.
The contrast is stark — a city that contributes significantly to Punjab as well as the nation’s economy continues to struggle with basic civic necessities.
Ludhiana’s residents say they dread the monsoon every year because it brings with it waterlogging that throws everyday life out of gear. As much as 90 per cent of the city’s sewerage system is choked, they say.
“This has been the city’s condition for decades. Every monsoon, for nearly two to three months, residents go through the same ordeal. Rainwater enters houses, often mixed with overflowing sewage, leaving behind a foul stench that spreads across roads. Garbage is scattered everywhere, and there is no effective drainage system to carry away excess rainwater,” said Kuldeep Singh Khaira, a member of the Public Action Committee and an RTI activist.
In Thursday’s rain, residents and shopkeepers in Talab Bazaar, Gur Mandi, Saban Bazaar, Kesar Ganj Mandi Road, Chaura Bazar, Maleri Gali, Rupa Mistri Gali, Sagla Wala Shivala Road, Chaudi Sadak, Pratap Bazaar, Town Hall Road and areas around the Municipal Corporation headquarters are believed to have suffered heavy financial losses.
Despite being branded a Smart City by the Centre in 2016, Ludhiana has failed to build an effective stormwater drainage system. The existing drainage system was built decades back; whenever new problems arise, new pipes are laid to rectify the issue, but they simply cannot cope with the city’s 35 lakh population.
According to Smart City project data, the Centre gave Rs 500 crore and the Punjab Government the same amount — all Rs 1,000 crore has been spent, evidently. Ludhiana, along with Jalandhar and Amritsar, are Punjab’s designated “smart cities”.
City mayor Inderjit Kaur admitted to The Tribune that while the waterlogging issue persists, this year, despite the sanitation worker’s strike, “things were relatively better.”
Asked why the storm sewer project remains delayed, she said the state government has been unable to obtain the necessary No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from Central agencies like National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). Besides, the Mayor said, in congested streets and areas in the city, it was not viable to put storm sewers. She didn’t say why.
Fact is, most city areas come under the purview of state government agencies like the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT), the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA), but none of these agencies have been able to deal with waterlogging. The problem is compounded by the fact that frequent road digging for laying water supply, gas and telecom pipelines damages existing infrastructure and delay long-term drainage projects.
“During the Congress regime, storm sewer was laid in a few areas on Rahon road and Haibowal Road, but they are in bad condition, especially after rains”, said former BJP Councilor Inder Aggarwal.
Senior Congress leader and former councillor Parminder Mehta admitted that just a few hours of rain had created flood-like conditions across the city, with filthy rainwater entering homes and shops.
“Does the Municipal Corporation obtain all mandatory permissions before carrying out illegal works in the city? Whether it is indiscriminate felling of trees, illegal constructions or repeated recarpeting of the same roads every year or two, are proper approvals taken?” Mehta asked.
He alleged that one of the major reasons behind the delay in building a storm-water drain system was because the focus had been on cleaning the Buddha Nullah — on which crores of rupees had already been spent by vested interests.
The Tribune