Ward 68 lags behind in every field
Govind Sharma
JAMMU: Ward No 68 lags behind in every field of development with inhabitants of the area craving for basic amenities as a large portion of the Ward was brought under the jurisdiction of Jammu Municipal Corporation in the recent past.
The Ward was once limited to only Greater Kailash but now about 40 % area of Gandhi Nagar constituency and 60% of Samba constituency has been included in it. The main areas that have been included in the Ward are Lower Chowadi, Langer, Jallochak, Lower Jallochak, Santokh Vihar, Sainik Colony Sector F, Snairki Mohalla, Ratnuchak and Kaluchak.
As all these areas were earlier under different Panchayats, no development took place there. People of these areas do not have good roads, lanes & drains, proper water and power supply, health facilities while darkness prevails on the roads and lanes in the night due to absence of street lights.
“On the name of facilities, there is nothing in our area. Roads and lanes are in dilapidated condition while drains in major portion of the Ward are yet to be constructed. Wherever drains exist the same are badly chocked”, Sunil Kumar of Greater Kailash said.
Ramesh of Ratnuchak said there is acute water scarcity in many small mohallas while lanes are not up to the mark and some of them needed immediate repair work. “There is no facility for garbage collection and people of the locality are bound to throw garbage at a selected place on road side or in an open field”, he added.
People of Jallochak, Lower Jallochak and Sainik Colony also highlighted the same grievances. “Many lanes in our area are yet to be cemented while due to absence of drains in many lanes, waste water of kitchen and bathroom flows on the roads and lanes thereby creates insanitary condition”, Shanker Singh of Lower Jallochak said while Amit Kumar of Upper Jallochak said that in whole Ward, there is only one small park, which does not fulfill people’s requirements.
The absence of street lights was another issue highlighted by people of almost all the localities of the Ward. “There are no street lights even on main road what to say of lanes and by-lanes”, Chain Singh of Lower Chowadi said. He also expressed his anger over dilapidated condition of roads in the area.
Anand Sharma of Kaluchak and Pawan Kumar of Lower Chowadi said that due to a large number of illegal electric connections in their areas, inhabitants are suffering badly as in summer, power breaks down repeatedly due to overloading of power transformers.
Anil Kumar, BJP Corporator of the Ward, while speaking to Excelsior, said that according to a recent survey, his Ward is the bigger than all other Wards of JMC, both population as well as geographical wise. He said on the name of development, there is nothing in his Ward and he will have to start development works from zero.
“Roads are in worst conditions, there are no lanes and drains in many localities, even a single public toilet is not in the area while in many areas, there is no garbage collection facility,” the Corporator alleged.
Speaking about his priorities, Anil said that due to increasing unemployment among youths, they are being attracted towards drugs menace. He said to prevent them from being falling prey to the menace he wants to set up a sports facility in the area so that their energy may be used in right direction.
“Constructing a public toilet in the area will also be one of my priorities,” the Corporator said, adding, he has also identified a land for the same in Greater Kailash area. He also expressed his wish to construct a big park in the Ward for recreation of the inhabitants of the area.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
