Local shopkeepers in the Barah Quarters area of Hisar town shut their shops and displayed banners of local MLA Savitri Jindal and Mayor Praveen Popli in a waterlogged street as a mark of protest on Saturday.

Residents alleged that overflowing sewers flooded the streets with foul-smelling waste water, and that the municipal corporation had failed to take note of the problem of sewer blockage while accusing the officials of adopting a negligent attitude in maintaining the sewer system.

A local activist, Saurabh Chhabra, said they put up banners of Jindal and Mayor Popli in the middle of the waterlogged road to highlight their resentment against the administration.

He alleged that the sewer overflow had caused severe inconvenience to shopkeepers and residents. Chhabra said one of the roads in the Barah Quarters area was inundated with sewage. He said they had reported the matter to municipal corporation officials and the local MC member, but no one visited the site.

Despite three to four days of no rainfall in Hisar, the shopkeepers noted that the overflowing sewage exposed a completely choked sewer system. Residents alleged that the situation would become far worse if heavy rains occurred.

They said several sewer manholes and pipelines in the area had been in poor condition for long time.

The protesters demanded immediate cleaning and repair of the sewer system to ensure a permanent solution to the waterlogging problem.