Poor roads, unkempt parks: Welcome to Panipat’s Sect 25

Mukesh Tandon

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Residents of Sector 25 in Panipat are up in arms over the lack of basic amenities in their area. Streetlights in the sector are non-functional, roads are in a pathetic condition and parks are in a state of neglect. They say that they have met with the responsible authorities and local MLA Mahipal Dhanda several times but nobody has ever paid heed to their problems. 

The residents organised a protest during a ‘Rahagiri’ event held in Sector 25 in July against the callous attitude of the authorities concerned, requesting them to address their genuine problems. 

There are 1,250 houses in the residential area of Sector 25 while a large number of people work in the industrial part 1 and 2 of the sector. “We are crying for basic amenities for the past several years but nobody has ever bothered to address our grievances,” says Jagroop Sheokand, president of Shree Krishna Park Welfare Association. 

Streetlights are non-functional for the past many years and they face problems during night, he says. A park in the area has not been properly maintained for a long time. Earlier, the Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) maintained it but now its maintenance is the responsibility of the Municipal Corporation Panipat, he adds. 

Sheokand says that corporation officers have told them that a policy for the maintenance of parks is in the works. The roads in Sector 25 are dilapidated and no official or the MLA has bothered to get them repaired or re-carpeted, he adds. 

Vaibhav Arora, a local resident, says that they have met local MLA Mahipal Dhanda several times but he has not been able to resolve their problems. 

Besides, members of Maharshi Dayanand Residents Welfare Association, Sector 25, also protested against the indifferent attitude of the authorities during the ‘Rahagiri’ event in July.

Mahender Juneja, general secretary of the association, says that they actively participate in all ‘Rahagiri’ events organised in their sector and distribute saplings, and provide drinking water but this time they decided to hold a protest against the authorities. 

Former Mayor Bhupender Singh, who also resides in Sector 25, says that non-functional streetlights are a big issue not only in their sector but also in the entire city. Around 60 to 65 per cent streetlights in the city are non-functional, he adds. The contractor has stopped the work at the main entry road midway as the municipal corporation has not made a payment of Rs 3 crore to him.

Mayor Avneet Kaur says the corporation has floated a tender for the construction of internal roads in Sector 25 (residential) and soon the work will start. The tender for works in Sector 25 part-1 has been allotted, she adds.

‘Nobody bothered to address our grievances’

We are crying for basic amenities for the past several years but nobody has ever bothered to address our grievances. Streetlights are non-functional for the past many years. The roads in Sector 25 are dilapidated but no official or the local MLA has ever bothered to get them repaired or re-carpeted. — Jagroop Sheokand, president of Shree Krishna Park Welfare Association 

‘Requests to local MLA fell on deaf ears’ 

We have met local MLA Mahipal Dhanda several times but he has not been able to resolve our problems. Roads and parks are not being maintained for a long time even though we have raised the issue with the authorities concerned many times. It gets pitch dark on roads during night due to non-functional streetlights. — Vaibhav Arora, resident of Sector 25, Panipat