One of the seven ancient cities that was once the capital of the Slave Dynasty, Mehrauli is groaning under lack of civic facilities. One of the oldest inhabited areas of the city’s glorious past is suffering due to sheer apathy of the authorities.
The historical town of Mehrauli is though dotted with a plethora of monuments and the buildings of architectural, historical and cultural importance; the inhabitants of the area have to wage a battle with basic issues everyday for their existence.
Mehrauli, which forms the part of the South Delhi parliamentary constituency, is a fascinating blend of upmarket colonies, lal dora land and urban villages comprising areas such as Saket, Vasant Kunj, Rajokri, Kishan Garh, Masoodpur, Press Enclave and the villages of Katwaria Sarai, Ber Sarai and lado Sarai. The constituency is home to about 1.5 lakh inhabitants who seethe with the very question of the “development” in the area. For them the legislators have made tall claims but their constituency has lost the pace of development, which rather the newly developed areas have witnessed. Due to the anger against the present legislator, Yoganand Shastri, who belongs to the Congress, a large section of the inhabitants of this constituency seem to favour BJP candidate, Parvesh Verma, who is not only reaching out to the public but also has a reputation of being the son of former Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma.
For the residents of the upscale Vasant Kunj, traffic congestion is the major issue along with the acute crisis of parking space. “The residents of the neighbourhood have to struggle with the perpetual issues of traffic congestion. The availability of public transportation is not available for thousands of residents here and even the metro connectivity is not in the vicinity. Roads are in a crumbling state, which not only aggravates traffic congestion but wrecks havoc for the residents during the monsoon season. Absence of a recreational club is sorely missed by the senior citizens of the area,” said Dr Rajendra Kumar, a doctor by profession and a resident of pocket D2 Vasant Kunj.
The Vasant Kunj residents complain that the area has numerous dark alleys and the places are not well lit. “Repeated complaints have fallen on the deaf ears and there have been no efforts by the civic authorities to resolve this issue,” said Prachi Jain, a resident of pocket D3 Vasant Kunj. Though the Congress managed to grab this seat in the last Assembly elections by a slim margin, the people are completely against the party’s candidate this time.
The historical town of Mehrauli has witnessed substantial expansion and the close-knit community of Jat villagers are now joined by migrants from the other States such as Bihar and Uttarahand. The population explosion has resulted in the roads getting overcrowded and congested. Residents complain that they have to bear with the overpowering stench emanating from the garbage dump near the Qutub Minar by shutting their doors and windows throughout the day. The sewer lines in the area are not capable to hold the capacity of dirty water and thus the roads are flooded during the monsoons. Some parts of the village do not even have a sewer line compounding the problem. Kishan Garh too suffers from a poor drainage system.
The JJ clusters in the constituency, such as the Kusum Pur pahari are in equally pathetic state. The area lacks even the most basic facility such as the toilet blocks and Delhi Jal Board’s supply water lines. The dwellers are thus forced to depend upon the tankers to fulfil their daily requirements of water.