The Maya of civic authorities

The residents of EB Block, Maya Enclave near Lajwanti Garden, have reasons to fret and fume. They are up in arms against the red tape of the civic bodies. The problem started four months ago, when the lane in front of Flat nos. EB155-EB170 was dug up in order to carpet it.
Earlier there was a bituminous road which required only resurfacing. But this road was dug up in order to make a concrete road.Since then the work is going on at a snail’s pace. For days the malba was dumped in front of the houses.
The peeved residents had to repeatedly request the MCD officials to remove the malba. After lot of persuasion, the road was covered with small gravel after which the work was again stopped for 15-20 days. Already four months have passed, but only half the portion of the road has been concreted.
On the rest of the road, a mixture of concrete and sand has been laid. The road has not been made in blocks as required. Says Sushama Bhardwaj, a resident of EB-165, “Vendors won’t come to our lane now. Both my son and husband are pilots. Every time they go on flight, we have to carry the luggage to the taxi, which has to be parked 50 ft away from our house.�
Lalit Mathur, resident of EB-168, adds “My mother who is asthmatic could not go for her regular walks as the road has been dug up.�
Residents complain that the drains which were operational satisfactorily were unnecessarily dug up. Some of the residents feel that the size of the drains has been reduced. Says N.K. Saluja, resident of EB-163, “One can see that the slope of the drain is not in order. This will lead to blockage of water. Besides, the drains are not covered and left open.�
It is estimated that the drains shall be covered with concrete blocks, but they have yet to be placed on the drains. The ramp in front of Naresh Chhabra’s house, EB-158, was broken in order to make a new drain. Says Naresh, “I am compelled to spend money in order to rebuild the ramp.�
The residents complained that many times water connections got cramped and water pipes burst. This has caused water logging on the road. Wg.Cdr. Mahananda, resident of EB-155, was put to great discomfort when electricity board near his house was broken by labourers while digging up the road. He complains, “For six hours, we went without electricity. I do not know who the contractor is but every second day there is a different labourer and no one is willing to take responsibility of breaking anything. These labourers have not undergone any police verification and our houses are left vulnerable from security point of view.�
The Maya Enclave RWA president, Wg.Cdr. R.C. Kohli, hopes that the work will be completed soon, as the workers who had gone back home due to harvest season, have come back and the work will proceed satisfactorily.
The residents have also sought help from local MLA. They heaved a sigh of relief when work was resumed recently and though some residents hope that the work will be completed soon, others still doubt the efficiency of the civic body.