Behind Glass House, residents live amid stink

HUBLI: They live just behind the Glass House, the city's land mark that is getting a facelift at a cost of Rs 6 crore. But in a sharp contrast, living conditions for the residents in Girni Chawl, a declared slum, are pathetic. So much so that even fresh air is nothing but a luxury for them.
The Chawl, inhabited by more than 1,200 households, is deprived of proper basic amenities like roads, gutters, UGD etc.
The slum has broken gutters which are just about 1 to 1.5 ft deep and are not regularly cleaned. Due to lack of containers, residents are forced to dump waste in gutters. With only about 50% households having toilets, the remaining go in for open defecation, adding to the stink.
People living on both sides of the six lanes in the Chawl have extended their living space to such an extent that there is little space for vehicles to move on the roads in the area. In some places, toilets and bathrooms have come up on the encroached roads.
Condition of the roads worsens during monsoon, with slush and mud everywhere. Residents of the area don't remember as to when the last time the roads got a facelift.
The area gets water once in 8-10 days. The residents, most of them who have migrated to the city decades ago in search of job, say that they feel like orphans in the city as neither the officials nor the area corporator have lent an ear to their grievances.