Delhi: Seelampur
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Civic issues
2017
Paras Singh, Muck and stink trouble Seelampur , April 16, 2017: The Times of India
The Shahdara drain runs through Seelampur. Its murky and fetid course through the four wards of the assembly constituency -Maujpur, Chauhan Bangar, Gautampuri and Seelampur -is an apt metaphor for the dismal failure of the East Delhi Municipal Corporation in the area. Sanitation has become such a problem that it dwarfs every other civic issue.
“Cleanliness is our main and only demand,“ declared Mohammad Dilshad, a young voter in Seelampur. “The trash is not taken away, sometimes for weeks. That is why the drain in Seelampur is choked with filth.“ Because the corporation does not clear the garbage, people are wont to dump it in the canal.Md Javed pointed out that the drain is cleaned once a year, leaving it with “less of water and more of garbage and used for open defecation“.When TOI was in the area, the large water channel was being cleared and the muck dredged out occupied a whole lane along Asha Ram Tyagi Marg, but residents cautioned against being deceived by this election-inspired activity.
It is perhaps ironical that people feel frustrated because both the incumbent mayor of EDMC Satya Sharma and leader of the House Sanjay Jain are residents of this area. Asma Begum, the sitting councillor from Chauhan Bangar, admitted that the drain was the cause of disease and death. “We have proposed several times that it should be covered,“ she said.“It would prevent garbage being thrown into it and create space for us to open polyclinics too, but EDMC maintains covering the drain entails too big an expense unless Delhi government provides the funds.“
Mayor Sharma, the representative from Usmanpuri, drew attention to one other problem associated with the uncovered drain. “A large section has been encroached upon,“ she said. “The corporation officials have been unable to enforce rules and stop the mushrooming of illegal and hazardous industries in residential areas, which channel the effluent into the drain.“
Jaffrabad resident Md Aftab said that things had improved slightly in the past five years, but any benefit was undone by the population growth. With an open drain and teeming humanity living in its vicinity, it was surprising that there were numero us cases of chikungunya and dengue in 2017.
The poor condition of street lighting is another bane. Under such circumstances, said Amit Malik of Jammu Mohalla in Maujpur, the entire area has become unsafe for women. He added, “Besides, it also becomes diffi cult to cope with the packs of dogs that prowl around.“ Some colonies in Maujpur have been given water supply in the past few years, but the agencies haven't covered up the roads that were dug up to lay the pipelines.
Mayor Sharma, while claiming that she had been in the post only for a short while, nevertheless asserted that many projects had been started in the four wards in recent years. “The incoming corporators should focus on completing these projects which have got stuck due to paucity of funds as well as time,“ she said.
