MCD polls: Broken roads, waterlogging, garbage mismanagement among key issues

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Broken roads, waterlogging and garbage mismanagement are some of the key issues that the residents in the national capital have been facing for years, according to the Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA) of north, east and south Delhi.

President of north Delhi RWA, Ashok Bhasin said 80 per cent of the roads in their area are broken and sewer lines around the slums need to be fixed.

“The biggest issue that we have been facing for the last 3 to 4 years is broken roads. Condition of these roads and gullies (streets) are pathetic and 80 per cent of the roads need to be repaired. Even the sewer lines around the slum area are in the same condition,” Bhasin told PTI.

He also mentioned the rise in property taxes, user charges for cleanliness in the society and “inefficient” management of problems raised by the societies as other issues of concern among the residents.

“What has the Municipal Corporation in Delhi (MCD) given the residents in the last 15 years? They have provided us with zero benefits. Residents are being threatened and charged fines in the name of pollution by the authorities. Politicians are busy focusing on publicity rather than working for development for the public,” he said.

B S Vohra, president of east Delhi RWA said the civic body needs to focus mainly on the civic infrastructure in the eastern part of the union territory.

He said due to improper drainage systems, residents face waterlogging issues during the rainy season. Pothole-riddled roads add to this problem.

“Water-logging is the biggest problem that the residents in east Delhi have been facing for the last two decades. Moving out of the house is impossible during the monsoon as all the roads remain waterlogged for days. They come up with temporary solutions but there has to be a concrete plan for it,” Vohra told PTI.

RWA member of Greater Kailash in south Delhi, Rajiv Kakariya said there is a need to change the civic body’s policies as it is becoming a “tender operator” instead of a “service provider”.

“There is policy paralysis and the MCD is becoming a tender operator. They are supposed to be the service provider and implementer rather,” Kakariya told PTI.

He said the norms for park usage for community events by RWA need changes, adding that better policies are needed for residential parking and colony gates operation and installation as well.

“Apart from the issues of residential parking and colony gates, better policies are also needed for municipal liability for accountability of the MCD services and pruning of trees,” he told PTI.

Former RWA president of Defence Colony, Ranjeet Singh said irregularities in garbage collection are one of the major issues that the residents have been facing in the area.

“Unsegregated collection of garbage from houses is the main issue. Dengue cases are rampant and nothing is being done in the societies regarding that. There is no regular cleaning of service lanes, probably due to shortage of staff,” he added.

The voting for MCD will be held on December 4 and votes will be counted on December 7.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is ruling the civic body since 2007.