NEW DELHI: Every year, the onset of monsoon brings about a familiar site for the residents of Gurgram - heavily waterlogged streets that make daily commute nearly impossible.
Residents often take to social media to ridicule the city’s misgovernance with many sarcastically praising authorities for turning their flats into “sea-facing” luxury apartments.
Flooding, however, is not the only issue plaguing the ‘Millenium City’. Residents frequently complain of overflowing sewers, water scarcity, damaged roads and irregular garbage collection. Some of the city’s Residents Welfare Associations (RWAs) even went so far as to boycott the recently-held Lok Sabha polls until conditions improved.
“The situation has gotten consistently worse in the last 2-3 years,” said Raj Kumar Yadav, president of Sector 46 RWA. According to Yadav, garbage collection is one of the worst-hit services with private contractors selling off their tenders from one to another with no accountability to residents.
“Garbage collection is usually delayed by several days and despite fixed rates for garbage collection, based on plot size, contractors also grossly overcharge us. These contractors are no better than goons and threaten us if we complain to the Municipal Corporation,” he said.
The situation in private societies under the management of the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) is no better. Mayfield Garden, a private colony spread over 327 acres was recently taken over by the MCG. Residents had been pooling their funds together and managing the locality on their own ever since the group of builders that developed the area stopped its maintenance in 2012.
“We have made several representations to MCG officials but nothing has been done to improve our situation. A single hour of rain can easily flood our entire locality,” said RK Sharma, president of Mayfield Garden- B RWA.
Notably, elections to the MCG House were last held in 2017, with the term of the councillors and the mayor ending in 2022. Fresh elections were supposed to be held within six months but were delayed as the delimitation exercise could not be completed. Elections can be held only after the delimitation is carried out and approved by the state government, said officials.
In the absence of elected officials, residents’ pleas often go unheard in the MCG.
According to Kuldeep Singh Bohra, who served as a councillor from 2017 to 2022, elected representatives play a crucial role in bringing residents’ concerns to the attention of civic officials. “We would have a meeting of the house every one or two months, where we would discuss issues pertaining to our wards. This made it difficult for officials to ignore them.
MCG Commissioner Narhari Banger could not be reached for a comment despite repeated attempts.
Why municipal polls are not being held
Elections to the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) were last held in 2017, with the term of the councillors and the mayor ending in 2022. Fresh elections were supposed to be held within six months but were delayed as the delimitation exercise could not be completed.