Poor planning, administrative apathy cost Rohtak: Residents

LOCAL CONG MLA PINS BLAME ON POLITICAL INDIFFERENCE; ADDITIONAL DC FOCUSSES ON IMPROVEMENT IN RANKING FROM 2019

ROHTAK: Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s home city Rohtak has ranked 35th in the Swachh Survekshan 2020, lagging behind chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s Karnal in cities with population between 1 lakh to 10 lakh.

Karnal performed better than Rohtak and secured 17th slot. Even though Rohtak jumped to 35th position from last year’s 69th rank, locals are of view that this city has more potential than Karnal.

Rohtak failed to perform better due to administrative apathy, they say.

Rohtak had grabbed 89th spot in 2018 and 295 rank in 2017.

Rohtak MLA BB Batra of the Congress pinned the blame on district administration and political indifference for Rohtak’s poor performance.

“The main factors are poor segregation and sanitation in the city. Residents are forced to consume contaminated water and this is a crime, which is being committed by the local municipal corporation. The water supply tanks are yet to be cleaned and interior roads are in poor condition,” he added.

“The administration has failed to utilise ₹13 crore properly, which was released through Amrit Yojana. Karnal has been developed as a cleaner city than Rohtak in the past years as chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar represents that constituency,” the MLA said.

“In Karnal, the chief minister has been allocating more funds than our city,” he added.

Pratap Singh, a retired principal from Rohtak, attributed the reason of city’s poor performance than Karnal to faulty planning.

“Water supply lines in most of the colonies are damaged and roads are in bad shape. The GPS tracking of garbage collection vehicles and maintenance of public places and toilets need to be taken seriously. People in

Rohtak are not getting clean drinking water,” he added.

Rohtak additional DC Mahender Pal, however, focussed on how the city has improved its rank from 295 in 2017 to 35 this year. “Due to the efforts of municipal corporation, administration, and citizens, our city’s ranking jumped to 35 from last year’s 69. Our roads and streets are clean and the garbage collection facility is excellent. The civic bodies’ vehicles have been collecting garbage from doorsteps,” he added.

WE ARE READY TO ACCEPT OUR MISTAKES: MAYOR

Rohtak mayor Manmohan Goyal said the city lagged behind Karnal as it performed poor on four parameters.

“We will have to set up a crushing plant in Rohtak so that debris can be used again. We will have to stop people from throwing construction waste on the roadsides. The swachh survekshan indictated that Rohtak has poor waste management and segregation,” he added.

“We are ready to accept our mistakes and will try to improve the ranking next year,” the mayor said.