Waseem Ahmad
ZADIBAL: Zadibal constituency in downtown area of Srinagar which starts from Kawdara and extends upto Sadarbal has been neglected by the successive Governments and residents said basic amenities are lacking here.
The residents of the constituency are facing identical problems like lack of proper drainage, roads, pollution, encroachments, electricity and lack of healthcare facilities.
The Assembly constituency of Zadibal is a part of Srinagar Parliamentary constituency, which was represented by former People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Abid Hussain Ansari. He won the 2014 Assembly elections by defeating Peer Afaq Ahmad of National Conference. Ansari bagged 7852 votes as against Ahmad’s 4849 votes. Ansari had recently joined the People’s Conference.
One of the major issues in the constituency is Khushalsar wetland, which was once known for its crystal clear water till a few decades ago, in absence of any conservation and regulation measures, it is facing imminent threat of extinction.
Nestled between Hawal and Zadibal areas, Khushalsar is connected to another wetland Gilsar which receive waters from Dal lake. Both gradually flow into Anchar which in itself is connected with the Dal lake through a waterway called Nallah Aamir Khan.
As per the residents, Khushalsar, a lake converted into Wetland is at the verge of extinction as everyday thousands of gallons of untreated sewage is being dumped into the wetland which has turned the waters poisonous which has lead to extinction of natural vegetation, fish and other aquatic life besides engulfing the neighbourhood with a foul stink thereby putting the neighbourhood inhabitants vulnerable to life threatening diseases.
The residents said the water channels connected with the lakes are blocked with garbage and carcasses of animals as they have not been cleaned for years.
They said that the outflow channels from the wetland, which pass through residential areas, emanate foul smell making the residents suffer badly.
Ghulam Mohiddin, a local said that the wetland was once a tourist attraction, but now even the locals want to keep away from it due to the condition it is in. “The Government claims of conserving and developing water bodies fall flat by the sight of this water body. Nothing is being done at ground level, the cleaning and conservation is on documents only and nothing beyond that,” he said
The residents of Zadibal and its adjoining areas said that their long pending demand of a recreational park was not fulfilled by the successive Governments as there is hardly any place for the children as well as adults to play or spent their spare time. “We have been demanding for a recreational park in the area for a long time but the successive Governments hardly bothered about it. Our children are confined to the four walls of their homes as they do not have any place in the area where they can play. We approached the authorities several times including the MLA’s but nothing happened till date”, Sarfaraz Hussain, president Khushalsar Intizamiya Committee said.
He also said that their long pending demand of a proper boundary wall around the Khushalsar was not fulfilled as it would have helped in conserving the wetland and further encroachments would have been stopped. “This was our long pending demand that a boundary wall should be constructed around the Khushalsar so that the encroachments are stopped. In fact, this was the main reason that Abid Ansari won from the Zadibal constituency but till date the demand was not fulfilled,” Hussain said
Hussain further said that the area has a Primary Health Centre (PHC) but it is in pathetic condition as it was never upgraded and condition of it is same as it was so many years ago. “We have a PHC here but it is in pathetic condition. The PHC lacks facilities like availability of medicines, doctors and it is in dire need of up-gradation. Despite assurances given for its up-gradation, nothing happened till date,” Hussain said.
Another area of the constituency, Nowshera, is one of the most neglected. One of the main problems of the area is that majority of its areas are under green belt and no one can construct houses here. “We can’t construct houses here as it is in green belt. It is a major humanitarian problem here as several families are living in a single house. It affects our privacy. If our area has been declared green belt, we should be provided alternate land for the construction of houses”, said Ghulam Rasool Tiploo.
The residents said that there is acute water crisis in the area as the infrastructure has not been upgraded for past 5 decades now. “We store water as taps mostly remain dry here. People have to remain in cue to fetch water. We had fresh water spring here and authorities mixed drainage with it and it nowhere exists now”, says Ghulam Rasool Tiploo, a local resident.
“The drains of the area always remain blocked and at places are without manholes. We clean drains on our own and SMC never bothers”, says Gulzar Ahmad, a local resident.
“We don’t have a dispensary here and we have to go to SKIMS, Soura for treatment. Since it is a tertiary care hospital, they don’t entertain us. We have been demanding a dispensary in this area for long. Besides this people have cattle here and there is no veterinary here to treat them”, said Gulzar Ahmad.
The locality of Lal Bazar has no different story. The roads of the area have been encroached upon and people face difficulty in commuting as there is space for only one vehicle to pass at a time. “From Molvi Stop towards Bagwanpora the roads are narrow and trucks fail to go inside the colony. There is no public transport due to narrow roads and people have to walk 2 kilometers to catch a bus at Molvi stop. People are ready for giving land for road widening but Government is not coming forward”, Bashir Ahmad said.
The residents of Umar Colony Lal Bazar said that lanes and by-lanes of the area are full of pot holes and during the rains they remain water-logged. “It takes weeks for the Government to drain the water”, Tariq Ahmad, a local resident said.
Mohammad Ashraf, a resident of Lal Bazar said that the main road of Botshah Mohalla has been encroached and it is now only 12-13 feet when the road width in Revenue records is 60 feet.
He also said that in some areas, there is no drainage and in Alamdar Colony where there is drainage, the drainage water seeps into the bathroom and when they approached authorities, they didn’t respond.
The residents also complained that that despite being a metered area, there are frequent power cuts and when transformers develops snag, they have to repair it on their own.
MLA Zadibal, Abid Hussain Ansari told Excelsior that when he was elected in 2014 from Zadibal, the constituency was in shambles and only a particular area was developed and majority of the constituency was neglected over the years.
“During my tenure, most of the roads were upgraded and macadamized. Only some of the roads and inner lanes of the colonies were not macadamized because of the drainage work in the area. About Rs 9.5 crores were spent on the overall up-gradation and blacktopping of roads,” he said.
The MLA said: “Four community halls were constructed in the constituency and up-gradation of other community halls was also done at the cost of Rs 47 Lakhs. Several sports fields were constructed and some stadiums were also upgraded. An amount of Rs 3.5 crores were spent on sports in the constituency.”
He further said that two middle and two High Schools were upgraded. Besides, three ambulances were provided to the people of the constituency. Up-gradation, repairing and equipments purchase of health centres were done with a cost of Rs 30 lakhs.
The MLA said that in power sector, 24 transformers were installed, improvement of LT/HT lines was done at the cost of Rs 1.32 crores, Grid station at Bagh-Ali-Mardan Khan was constructed at the cost of Rs 5.5 crores and two GSI Grid stations were constructed at Sazgiripora and Gilli Kadal at the cost of Rs 6 crores.
Ansari while admitting that the people of different areas are facing serious problems said that a lot needs to be done in the constituency. He attributed it to the increase in the population over the years and expressed hope that the issues will be sorted in future.
When asked Ansari about the condition of Khushalsar and the issues faced by the people of the surrounding areas, he said the issue was one of the main reasons that led him to part ways from PDP. “There were many reasons and Khushalsar, one of the main reasons that led me to leave the PDP. I was promised that measures will be taken to save Khushalsar and the issues faced by the people of areas will be addressed but despite repeatedly requesting and raising issues in the Assembly, the promises were not fulfilled,” he said.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
