MT News Service
Jammu, July 10:
JKPCC Vice President and former Minister Raman Bhalla on Saturday welcomed Pre-monsoon showers in Jammu and at the same time appealed civic bodies, including the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) to put I in place all arrangements well in time to ensure people don’t suffer unnecessarily during rainy .He said JMC and other civic bodies claims of accelerating the drainage work to cope with the problem of flash floods in the city and adjoining areas due to chocked drains should not be ly on papers. All chocked drains and nullahs need to be cleared to ensure smooth flow of rainwater. There is an urgent need to carry out desilting of major nullahs and drains in the city ahead of monsoon, which is hitting J&K any time soon.This is observed by former Minister after visiting Rajiv Nagar , Kalika Colony, Gorakh Nagar ,Qasim Nagar,Rajeev Nagar and adjoining areas of Gandhi Nagar constituency to take review of preparations in these areas to face forthcoming Monsoon Season. Prominent among those who accompanied Bhalla include Block President Jatinder Singh Chib, Latish Sharma ward 48 President ,Deewan Chand ward 47 President,
Gagan Baral Panch, Master Paras Ram ,Madam Harvinder Kour, Kala Ram, Parbat Baba, Vishal, Ajay beside others.
Speaking on the occasion, Bhalla urged the government to include Rajeev Nagar in Jammu Municipal Corporation. He said that the developmental and hygienic condition of Rajeev Nagar is worse despite the fact that the locality is being hardly within 2/3 km away from Jammu City. “The underdevelopment is a glaring example of the residential colony which remains away from the attention of the authorities. The poor residents belonging to the downtrodden section of society feel neglected with regard to development and hygienic conditions,” said Bhalla. He said the area exposes of tall claims of BJP Govt over success of Swacch Bharat Abhiyan in J&K.He said the condition of roads, lanes and drains are not good. “Therefore, this residential colony should be included in the Jammu Municipal Corporation so that the developmental works, cleanliness, and hygienic condition of the area could be improved,” he said. He said that “The street lights should be installed in Rajeev Nagar, besides a health centre should also be sanctioned by the Health Dept for the locality.”
He said that the residential colony deserves to be included in JMC but it remained ignored by BJP govt.
In a statement issued to mercury times, Bhalla however observed that given the state of preparedness of authorities, people in Jammu are praying that they are not subjected to a heavy spell of rains, as it could lead to flooding in the low-lying residential colonies.Residents are also skeptical about the seriousness of the administration to deal with water-logging, which maroons several residential colonies in the city during the rains.
As ambitious sewerage projects are far from completion, a majority of drains are still choked with slime and polythene, making various localities vulnerable to floods.A majority of drains in the city are blocked, which restrict free flow of rainwater.
“Heaps of garbage accumulated in these drains have been restricting free flow of water for the past few months. A foul stench emanates from the stagnant water, making it difficult to walk along the drain,” said Bhalla.
The areas worst hit during rain every year include Digiana, Gujjar Nagar, Channi Himmat, Rajiv Nagar, Gangyal, Trikuta Nagar and Bhour Camp. These residential colonies have been established close to water channels carrying sewerage of the city.
Bhalla maintained that it has become a perennial problem in the locality. Polluted water and filth from drains and nallahs gushed into houses within half an hour of the downpour every year. He slammed BJP Govt for its failure to bring ADB funded projects in J&K during the last seven years unlike his party which brought several projects worth crores in different parts of J&K during its tenure in J&K. This was result of ADB funds,that Congress govt constructed several Nallahas in Jammu city but during BJP Govt tenure not even single culvert has been constructed despite bringing the same into notice of concerned agencies from time time.Bhalla said that there are at least two hundred and seventy two (272) nallahas and deep drains in the city which need to be cleaned and properly desilted before the onset of monsoons to avoid their choking and subsequent overflowing. It may be mentioned that every year, several nallahs and drains get chocked during monsoon season which leads to overflowing of the filthy water.
The brunt is being faced by the low lying areas of the city where water not accumulates on the roads but also enters the homes causing damage to the people’s property.
Not only does the water overflow on to the roads during the rains, but these drains have become a breeding ground for mosquitoes and also are often overflowing with plastic and other garbage. Several low-lying areas of the city are exposed to this water, especially when the rains begin. However, locals are not as optimistic about the effectiveness of the work being carried out, said Bhalla.
“This is a persistent problem faced by the city every year and a permanent solution must be found. These drains were built by the Congress Govt years ago and it needs total renovation and repairs” said Bhalla focussing on government accountability.
Bhalla said BJP Govt claims spending thousands of crores for development of J&K, but the basic duty of keeping the rain water drain clean for the rainy season is not being taken care of,” he said. He also claimed that concerned authorities callous attitude and lack of concern for public grievances has hindered the work.
We need a masterplan for underground drainage system of Jammu city because the previous system, has been totally converted into a sewerage system and cannot hold the rainwater we receive now; it is overloaded” he said. Bhalla demanded to construct a proper outlet for draining safely the rain waters and to provide adequate egress to sewage. He also pooh-poohed the claims of authorities which had assured that all arrangements have been made to meet the monsoon challenge particularly in the wake of last year’s flood. Bhalla also appealed to the public to plant more and more saplings in their localities as well as on banks of the nallahs to make the environment eco-friendly so that Jammu becomes neat, clean and green city. He also appealed to the general public to cooperate with authorities in maintaining proper sanitation and undertake development activities of the depth, not to throw garbage, filth polythene etc in the public drains/nallahas and avoid using single used plastics, etc.
