Dharamsala: Broken streets sans lights, poor water supply irk residents

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, April 3

Residents of Ward No. 8, also called the Sakoh ward in Dharamsala, rue the lack of basic facilities as adequate water supply, inadequate streetlights, broken streets, improper sewerage system and the stray cattle menace in their area.

A resident said Sakoh village was made part of Dharamsala Municipal Corporation in 2015. Thereafter, the residents lost all facilities they were getting as a rural area, but were yet to receive any basic amenities of an urban area, he added. The area did not get any benefits of the Smart City project implemented in Dharamsala, he said.

Were better off when not in MC

When our ward was not part of the Dharamsala MC, we were getting benefits of MGNREGA, low electricity rates and water charges as a rural area. After inclusion in the MC, we lost access to all these facilities. The corporation has prepared to levy property tax on us. However, basic facilities like streetlights, sewage system and adequate drinking water supply are not available. — Sanjay Chaudhary, A resident

Sandhya Devi, a resident of the ward, said the streets of Sakoh were broken and needed repair. While pavers have been laid in other wards of the MC, the streets of Sakoh ward have not even been repaired, she added.

Most of the streets in the ward were full of potholes as they had not been repaired for the past 10 years when the area was made part of Dharamsala MC, she said.

Sanjay Chaudhary, another resident of Sakoh, said most parts of the ward were without streetlights. “We have requested the MC to provide streetlights several times but to no avail,” he added.

Chaudhary said as a village, they were getting the benefits of MGNREGA, low electricity rates and water charges as a rural area. After inclusion of the village in the Dharamsala MC in 2015, the residents of area lost access to all facilities as a rural area.

The corporation has instead prepared to levy property tax on them. However, basic urban facilities like streetlights, sewage system and adequate drinking water supply are yet to be provided to them, he said.

Rakesh Kumar, another resident, said even after inclusion in Dharamsala MC, most of the land in Sakoh was being used for agriculture. Farmers of the area were increasingly facing the problem of stray animals, especially cows, that destroy their crops. The Dharamsala MC was not doing anything to tackle the problem, he alleged. He added that kuhls brining irrigation water to Sakoh ward had been damaged at several places, due to which farmers were facing irrigation problems.

A resident also alleged that they were not getting adequate supply of drinking water. Water was being supplied for only an hour in the ward. This is further reduced by the authorities during summers and the area suffers from water pangs, he added.

Another resident said they were being asked to pay taxes equal to other areas of Dharamsala MC, but no facilities had been provided to them by the urban body.