Prof Javed Mughal
I am hats off to the Government when they spend money on building roads and tourist spots and bring about certain other types of development across the state. It is undoubtedly appreciable. The fact remains that a lot more is yet to be done if the government wants to win the hearts and minds of its people. This stark reality can’t be bypassed that much has been written about the road conditions of Rajouri Poonch and erstwhile Doda but all columns and critiques for the rehabilitation of these roads, did not make any difference to the concerned chambers. They have almost stuffed their ears with the cotton-balls so that they can’t listen to the public cry. Our leaders are making the best of their both the ears i.e. they listen with one and let the people’s cries and screams exit from the other. Consequently nothing remains with them and they keep on enjoying. What to talk of the governmental High ups, even the officers at the district level, even Tehsil level make no much of what the public speak for. In all the areas where the roads are in a paralyzed condition, the state of the drains is no better too. Our towns are not planned well because private citizens build them as they wish with no planning at all. Buildings that trespass into public drain areas are not an uncommon thing. We like to blame the government even when it is apparent that irresponsible citizens are contributing to the shabby get-up of the cities and towns with no proper drainage system resulting into the menace of flowing waste-water into the roads and inevitably wash the tarmac off the road. Motor-bikes skidding incidents, road-surfaces littered with muddy water; roof-pouring in the market and the shops flooded with stray water-flow in the market are the frequently happening spectacles in almost all the suburban towns of Jammu and Kashmir.
Taking the example of the Gujjar Mandi and Jawahar Nagar Roads which are frequently seen to have been flooded with drain water, the irresponsible attitude of the Municipal Corporation, R&B or whosoever is concerned with it becomes perceptible. The drains are stuffed with garbage thrown by the local residents, making a display of their civic backwardness, and the water, during the rainy days, carrying all this garbage, gets diverted into the live roads and creates a stinking atmosphere all around. It not only clogs the plying vehicles but even the pedestrians have to come across great hardships while walking along such dirty roads. Our people are so prosperous and self-centered and in a way irresponsible that they are always looking for someone to come from Secretariat or the Parliament House and clean the drains to save their life and lanes. This is the most disgusting habit of such residents around shabby drains.
Obviously when none comes to their support, the same unhygienic drains give rise to many health hazards especially for little children. The grown-up people get affected not so much because they have become accustomed to this stench. Perhaps each colony could think of ways to protect and maintain their drains instead of waiting for someone in authority to come and do it. Taking steps, that are practical and doable, like cleaning the drains and checking that people do not dump their garbage in the drains, ensuring that drainage areas are not encroached upon by unscrupulous residents, etc. is very much possible for all of us and hence we must come forward to do it for us. Even if it means taking the extra effort to organise the colony and do it, it is a worthwhile activity because it contributes to cleanliness and safety of road surfaces. There are some very simple steps that will maintain our roads and the main one is building drains where there are none. They should be constructed according to the standard drain specifications, especially keeping in mind the overflow of rain water. This pattern should be adopted for the villages also because in most of the cases it has been seen that the National High-ways are blocked by the heavy and unplanned water-flows from the villages. The construction of small ruts in the villages can serve two-fold purpose-first it can stop the errant water from damaging the roads and secondly the crops of the villagers or their arable land can be protected.
If the sewage system is made efficiently fool proof, we can do without the unsightly sight of roads turning into rivers of rain water. If rain water has the right avenues to flow into, it will go there and not usurp our streets. The quality of our road making is not good enough. There is no doubt about that. But if we had good drains, even the poor quality roads would have a chance of surviving for some more months. A good lesson for our road department and contractors would also be to study the roads in nearby areas like Kheora, chaudhary Nar, Danni Dhar of Rajouri; Kamsar, Khori Nar, Khakha Nawan Mohalla of Poonch, Dhoondwa, Akram Abad, Hamdan Pur, Nagri of Doda; Udrana, Ghatha, Kotli, Sartangal and Puneja of Bhaderwah and Hiriyal, Sangrama, Kuleed, Chaughan of Kishtwar. No proper drainage system has been maintained and most of the road surfaces in these areas are in a very deplorable state of affairs. The inhabitants of these areas are faced with extremely stinking atmosphere prevailing all around. In contrast to these areas, in the cities like Jammu, Srinagar, Kathua and Udhampur the quality of road making is higher than those of ours, but if our neighbours have good roads, we should try and find out how they got to where they are now.
But while the concerned Government agencies unquestionably need to do a lot more to give citizens good roads, much can also be achieved with a little initiative from all of us. We, the inhabitants of these areas have actually developed a habit of compromising with the circumstances and never try even once to invite the attention of the Government to the poor drainage system of these out-skirts posing a threat to life. Yes, the concerned MCs and NACs have, time and again, been informed about this serious issue but they have become too reluctant to listen to the voice of the masses and understand their problem. Under such circumstances, the affected public should not refrain from approaching the higher authorities since the issue is of serious concern. The Municipal Committee or NAC must do the needful in their jurisdiction to keep the atmosphere neat and clean and if needed the higher ups on helm of affairs must, too, not refrain from tightening the nuts and bolts of the concerned offices, off and on, to keep them up and doing.
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