Hanging Wires, Damaged Poles still exist in Ward 18

Sanjeev K Sharma
JAMMU, Nov 25: Hanging wires and damaged poles are still there in Ward number 18 which could not be corrected so far due to lack of funds and the prevailing red tape culture in offices of the concerned authorities.
This was revealed by Dinesh Gupta, Councillor of Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) Ward number 18.
MUNICIPAL WARD UPDATE
In an exclusive interaction with the Excelsior, Gupta, who politically belongs to BJP and is a second time Councillor from the same Ward, informed that areas of his Ward include Sarwal, Mandir Morh, Mana Basti, Upper Laxmi Nagar and Tali Morh.
He said that 90 per cent work on sewerage project has been completed in the Ward but at some places the sewerage gets blocked and the litter comes out from the manholes and spreads on roads and streets leaving problems for the passersby and the locals.
It is pertinent to mention here that the elected body of JMC responsible for developments in JMC Wards has completed over four years of its mandatory tenure of five but still many development works are miles away from completion and in some cases such works have not even taken off.
“Though about 90 per cent development works have been completed in my Ward but still some drains await construction and repair and need to be covered,” Gupta maintained adding: “One or two Nallahs in the Ward which were damage also needs repair which could not be done so far due to lack of funds.”
He said that blacktopping work has been completely done in the Ward and now the second coating is being done.
“About 90 per cent lanes in the Ward have been tiled and the required repair is also underway on the remaining,” the JMC Councillor said.
He said, apart from all this, approximately 90 per cent Street Lights have been installed in the Ward of which some are damaged for which repair is going on.
Gupta also said that his Ward had 3 km length of drains and many of these need repair and some drains are even covered.
“Water and power supply in my Ward is proper and Smart Meters have also been installed here for which there was a little resentment in the beginning but now all is going normal,” he further said.
“Problem of stray animals is also there but dogs have created a panic in the area and they also spread litter everywhere,” the JMC Councillor said adding: “There are three small parks and one big one also in my Ward. The big one is at Pakka Talab area and half of its portion falls in another Ward.”
He said that these parks are well developed with proper lights, sitting arrangements and open air gyms while the Pakka Talab Park also has a fountain.
Dinesh Gupta informed that there is no playground, no place for parking vehicles and no Community Hall in his Ward.
“My Ward has been provided with 35 Safai Karamcharis but being a big Ward there is a requirement of 50 and because of this deficiency cleanliness is not as per my satisfaction level though the Ward is very much clean due to proper utilization of the available staff with me,” he claimed.
The Councillor said that door-to-door moving autos to collect garbage from households are doing a good job and have solved the problem of garbage disposal in the Ward and now only 1-2 garbage dumps have remained in the Ward.
He appealed to the people of his Ward to use the garbage collector auto and not make dumps and contact him in case of any problem.
The Councillor also said that fogging has been done for 3-4 times in his Ward to safeguard the people from the ongoing dengue fever in the city.
“I have helped many widows, elders and physically challenged persons to get pension but the newly introduced rule for all such pensions exclusively to Below Poverty Line people is creating problems for many other deserving people and the government should look into it and should scrap such rules,” he continued.
He said that presently the work of making corrections in Ration Cards and other such works have been made very complicated and people are facing problems with it so the government should simplify the same.
Gupta said that there are cases of thefts of iron gratings from the drains and there are also some drug addicts and peddlers active in the Ward for which the police should take cognizance.