Cleanliness still a distant dream here
FAIZULLAH GANJ No street lights, parks or pucca road here. Plots have become dump yards and there is no drinking water supply, lament residents
LUCKNOW: : People of Faizullah Ganj, a small locality around half a kilometre from the Rumi Darwaza in Old City, seem to have lost their faith in the ‘clean India mission’.
Cleanliness campaigns are no less than a dream for the people here, especially in times when central and state governments are leaving no stone unturned in keeping India clean.
Though the locality is near the city’s most beautiful and clean heritage stretch (1.3km stretch from Tilewali Masjid to Chhota Imambada), people here say they haven’t witnessed any cleanliness campaigns in the area for years.
Akhtari Fatima got settled in Faizullah Ganj in the 1990s after her husband bought a small plot here from a relative at a nominal price. “Now, after almost 25 years I got the answer why the relative sold off the plot at throw-away prices. Our locality hasn’t witnessed any cleanliness drive or any development work for the past 25 years at least,” lamented Fatima.
She said living in Faizullah Ganj is no less than a struggle, as there is no road to walk or drive, no sewage pipelines. “During rains, the brick roads become accident prone as they get filled with sludge. There are no street lights and the roadside drains are choked with animal waste from a huge dairy in the area. There are multiple garbage dumps and no parks here,” she said.
“Our locality has never been on the priority list of any government. Don’t we deserve a clean environment to live,” she asked.
Akhtari’s one-room house is situated adjacent a huge dairy having some 20 buffaloes. She said there is no pucca road to her house and the road gets filled with waist-high sludge that has left many injured. “I lost my husband after he slipped in the puddle,” she added.
She is not the lone dweller to highlight these miseries. Faizullah Ganj has a population of around 1.25 lakh and the problems are the same for all people.
People say the area is bereft of even the basic amenities like roads, electricity and drinking water facility.
“Since there is no water supply in the area, we have to depend on a few houses that have submersible pumps. Cleanliness is a distant dream here,” said Hamid Ali Siddiqui, another resident.
However, residents have lot of hope from the state government.
Wali Ahmed, another resident, said being a low-lying area, the area experiences heavy waterlogging when the level of Gomti rises. “Every monsoon, many people are forced to leave their houses due to heavy water-logging in the area. There are no parks and the vacant plots here serve as garbage dump yards,” he added.
Ranno Devi, local corporator, blamed the previous governments for the pathetic condition of the area, saying it’s tough to clear the filth left by previous
governments in a year.
“Our area is perhaps the most backward area of the city. Previous governments did nothing for the area. They did not make efforts to bring development to the area,” said Ram Kishore, husband of Ranno Devi, on her behalf.
“We are trying our best to bring development to the area and bring it on track,” he added.
Apart from Faizullahganj, cleanliness is a major issue in neighbouring areas like Hussainabad, Daulatganj, Thakurganj, Yaseenganj, Wazir Bagh, Billaujpura, Khadra and Mehbullapur.