NEW DELHI: Last month, anguished by the lack of action by the civic bodies on repeated complaints against encroachments, illegal parking and other civic-related issues, Kalkaji residents held a candlelight march. Interestingly, Kalkaji, one of the prominent assemblies of South Delhi, is represented by the Delhi Education and Finance Minister Atishi.
The assembly’s segments—Sri Niwas Puri and Kalkaji—mainly house the middle class, and apart from parking and encroachment, they have been complaining of unclean roads, garbage-littered back streets, and poorly maintained public parks.
On the other hand, for Govindpuri, a locality of economically weaker strata, water, power supply and law and order are the primary concerns.
“Majority of foot paths have been encroached by vendors. Condition of roads is poor, traffic remains congested on all arterial roads, parks are bad in shape, dark spots are many and poses challenge for women security, water gets logged during rains,” Pramod Sachdeva, a Kalkaji residents said.“We also need more healthcare facilities and schools at the government level,” he added.
Many residents express their disappointment with Yogita Singh, the current BJP councillor, for failing to meet their expectations.
“Most of the streets have potholes. During rains, they get filled with water and, at times, become breeding grounds for vector-borne diseases such as dengue, malaria, and chikungunya. We have to repeatedly approach the agencies for anti-larval spray and fogging. In addition, waste disposal is poor, as at times garbage remains littered,” another resident, Adarsh Saluja, said.
Narinder Kaur Captain, former councillor from Kalkaji ward, said that she keeps fighting the issues despite being out of power. “We have forced the authorities to close several liquor shops here. We keep knocking their doors to clear garbage pile up and are working on source segregation of waste for better disposal,” Kaur said.