Residents blame district administration for laxity in preparing for the monsoon Lack of preparedness by the municipal authorities for the monsoon has affected normal life in the three border districts of Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur. As alerts were sounded in the region after the overflow of Beas and Ravi rivers, lack of basic civic amenities in the form of sewerage systems, clean drains and disposal system to tackle the heavy rain has led to the problem of waterlogging on the streets in the localities here. The residents attribute this to the laxity on part of their respective district administrations. Sources say all that that has taken place so far in Tarn Taran in the name of preparation for monsoons is a meeting a few days ago, but with no concrete results. In Gurdaspur, the drainage system has not yet been cleaned to deal with the rains. In Amritsar, the drainage system in the area around the Golden Temple and sewerage systems elsewhere in Amritsar got clogged after yesterday's rain. Pools of dirty water accumulated in the potholes on the broken roads and could be seen even today at various places, including Maqboolpura Road and Batala Road, exposing the lie behind the claims made by the Amritsar Municipal Corporation. "Time and again BJP Lok Sabha MP Navjot Singh Sidhu and Mayor Shwet Malik have made numerous promises of development, but it remains to be seen whether the dreams they have given to the residents would ever come true,' said Brij Bedi, a social worker. "The Mayor had claimed that the drains in the city had been cleaned in view of the rainy season, but the failure of the sewerage system has exposed this as a sham,' he added. Satnam Singh, a resident of Gurdaspur, said the district administration had not even begun cleaning the drains in the district yet. "These drains can lead to a flood-like situation in the event of a heavy downpour like the one witnessed yesterday,' he said. "The district administration is yet to spring into action to avoid a flood-like situation regardless of the fact that floods cause damage to several acres of arable land each year,' said Surinder Singh, a resident of Tarn Taran. When contacted, Amritsar Mayor Shwet Malik said the MC was doing its best to ensure that the streets did not get flooded after a heavy downpour. "We have cleaned the sewers and drains and if at all any flooding takes place, it is only temporary,' he claimed. Amritsar DC K.S. Pannu, who also holds additional charge of Tarn Taran, said, "Duties have been assigned to various departments to deal with any kind of emergency in the event of a flood.' Even Gurdaspur DC Gurkirat Kirpal Singh claimed efforts were on to ensure that the residents did not face any problem in the rainy season.