Municipal elections are to be held on April 23. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress will be contesting to take reins of the three municipal corporations. The Pioneer visited wards represented by the senior leaders of BJP and Congress to see whether people are getting civic amenities alongwith developmental works or not. Reality is that these wards woefully lack amenities and their representatives have done precious little to ameliorate the problems faced by the citizens.
What is even more surprising is the fact that in most of these wards, projects were sanctioned just two weeks before the “model code of conduct” was promulgated across the national Capital.
Ward number 21, 49, 11, 57, 109, 105, 13, 11 are being represented by well known names in political arena of Delhi. These wards lack proper sewerage and water disposal system. Besides, poor sanitation and pathetic condition of parks, roads in the wards tell the story of systematic neglect. Residents also complained of erratic water supply in the wards.
Poor maintenance of parks and pathetic conditions of the service roads, lack of de-silting work in storm water drains and improper disposal of waste, choked drains are some of the problems faced by the residents. As the thoroughfares are narrow, the municipality vehicles are unable to enter the streets for door-to-door collection of garbage.
These all the wards that is ruled by leaders like Pravesh Wahi, Standing Committee Chairman, North MCD, Vijay Prakash Pandey, leader of House, North MCD, Shyam Sharma, South Mayor, Subhash Arya, leader of house, South Corporation and Mukesh Goel, leader of Opposition to North.
The development in ward number 109 (Mayor Shyam Sharma’s ward) Janakpuri has started picking the pace just before code of conduct was announced by State Election Commission. The sewer pipeline is being laid in Nangli Jalib village in Janakpuri and inner roads that have not been repaired for years are being reconstructed.
Jaideep Rana, a resident, said, “It is disappointing that development is being carried out in our ward just before the election to woo the voters.
“The drains have not been de-silted for years. In the evening, mosquitoes buzz about in large numbers. The Municipality has failed to de-silt the drains and control the pest population,” he added.
Similarly in ward number 21 of Pravesh Wahi in Rohini, is choked with sewerage and poor sanitation. “Many people in this mohalla were admitted last year because of dengue and chikungunia, said Sunita Chaudhari. “The mosquito menace has reached unprecedented levels and we are tired as nothing happen after several request, she added.
Pawan Kumar, a resident, said, “The park situated in the ward is crying for attention. Benches installed in the park are lying in a state of neglect. People now have started throwing garbage in parks.
Parks in ward number 49 (Vijay Prakash Pandey) are used mainly to dry up the clothes, causing inconvenience to residents. Some of the main parks were maintained beautifully but the inner parks were even not in condition to sit or walk. The residents dump the trash on the road as garbage pickup van comes after every fifteen days. The garbage on the road is not picked resulting in the choked sewer drains, making it a permanent breeding ground for mosquitoes. “The roads become a swimming pool when it rains. The road has not been laid for years,” the residents said.
Ward number 13 (Dhirpur) is represent by Mukesh Goel, the leader of Opposition in North MCD is an exception. The inner roads are well maintained and all the problems of people addressed by the Councilor. Although there are not any good parks due to unplanned settlement but on sanitation measures a lot has been done. Surjeet Sahni, a resident of Dhirpur said that the councilor is a frequent visitor and he listens to everyone carefully and addresses the issues.
Political pundits say the municipal elections in Delhi are litmus test for the BJP that has been ruling corporations for the last 10 years. BJP has tried to beat the anti-incumbency factor by fielding fresh faces in all the 272 wards. AAP is not leaving any stone unturned to wrest control from the BJP while Congress is yet to gather steam. All eyes are no fixed for the results that will be declared on April 27. What remains to be seen whether Arvind Kejriwal led AAP can repeat its magic of 2015 or BJP will come up trumps, they added.