North wards rue forgotten promises, absent services
PROBLEM POINTS The wards close to North Campus have seen a decline in civic amenities as NDMC has turned a blind eye to their problems
Housing the official residence of Delhi’s lieutenant-governor and chief minister along with a number of plush bungalows, North Delhi’s Civil Lines looks like another Lutyens’ zone. But, take a step further and you will realise that it isn’t.
As one explores the locality, its mighty façade begins to blur. Potholes dot most of the streets making it difficult for people to walk to nearby locations. “Nobody would want to walk if the roads aren’t repaired. Besides, what can we complain about, when the road leading to the CM’s house itself is in a bad shape,” said Satish Singhal a resident of Ram Kishore Road (RSR) in Civil Lines. The road in front of his house and the Shankaracharya Road also faces the same problem.
Naveen Mittal, president of RSR RWA, Civil Lines, said the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, responsible for the upkeep of the zone, did a shoddy job de-concretising trees as per the orders of the National Green Tribunal (NGT). “MCD ruined the aesthetic value of the area. They just de-concretised tree spaces without any design or symmetry,” he said.
In 2009, the erstwhile MCD announced that Civil Lines and Rohini will be the first wards in Delhi to have ‘door-to-door’ garbage collection. Seven years later, nothing has happened on the ground.
Residents of Rohini, one of the first subcities of Delhi, which is packed with Cooperative Group Housing Societies (CGHS), feel the MCD gives the area a step motherly treatment. “Since all societies have RWAs or working committees which employ their own security guards and waste collectors, the MCD does not feel the need to send its sanitation workers,” said Vaibhav Piggal, president of Pocket 5 RWA, Rohini Sector 35.
Proximity to Delhi University’s North campus, has made GTB Nagar and Mukherjee Nagar the most populous wards of the North zone. In the last five years, the two areas have seen many houses becoming four-storey buildings that are being run as hostels and PG accommodation.
“Kitchens in most of these buildings are big as they function like a mess. Most drains here are choked,” said Attar Singh Pal, president of Hudson Lane RWA in GTB Nagar.
Another common concern, besides garbage, among North Delhi residents is fogging. Residents in all the wards that HT visited said that they wanted mosquito fogging to be a regular practice.
“Last year, the MCD woke up only when the media highlighted the rising cases of dengue, chikungunya and malaria,” said Syed Murtaza Ali, a resident of K Block in Model Town.
North Delhi residents say the open spaces in front of their houses are increasingly being blocked by encroachments. A number of shops are being opened not only on main colony roads but also on the ground floor houses in several residential areas.
“The width of streets has reduced because of encroachments. Visit any park and all along its boundary wall, you will find vendors. It is a safety hazard too,” said Laxmi Narayan Garg who has been living in C Block of Model Town III for more than 50 years. Residents of wards such as GTB Nagar, Model Town, Mukherjee Nagar and Rohini, take their parks quite seriously. Many RWAs are maintaining the greens with collective funds. “Tree pruning does not happen in years. Sweeping is not a daily affair and dogs are all over the place. The park in front of my house (next to Chandrashekhar Park) has a broken shed,” said Ranjana Devi, of GTB Nagar.
Residents whom HT interviewed in these areas, said they did not want any new development but demanded proper upkeep of the existing infrastructure.
While the upper middle class and affluent wards of North Delhi have problems either with parks, garbage or streets, issues in Sangam Park (ward 76) and Wazirpur (72) are a combination of all of these and even more.
Basic facilities like public toilets are in a deplorable state here with broken sanitary ware and uncovered walls. During monsoons, lanes in slums and unauthorised colonies like Lal bagh are submerged with knee-deep water.