Dharamsala Ward Watch Secretariat: Leaking sewer pipes, parking woes hit ‘busiest’ area

Lalit Mohan

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Dharamsala, March 29

Ward No. 7, which is also known as Secretariat ward, has been grappling with the problems of leaking sewer pipes, parking of vehicles along the roadside and inadequate parking lots.

The mini-secretariat of Kangra district and district Judicial Court complex are situated in the ward. Despite the fact that it is the busiest area of the city, nothing much has been done under the Smart City project.

Sunny Mahajan a resident of the area, said sewer pipes were leaking in the Civil Bazaar area. He said there is a leakage in sewer near drinking water pipes.

“People of the area fear that leaking sewer pipes might contaminate potable water. Many times, complaints have been made to the authorities in this regard, but to no avail. The authorities should immediately repair the damaged pipes, otherwise it can lead to an outbreak of disease in the area,” he said.

Another resident Naresh Sharma said, “The ward is the most congested area in the city as people from all over the district come here for meeting district administration officials and for cases in district courts. A parking lot was developed in the mini-secretariat area under the Smart City project. However, there was no public parking in the judicial complex where hundreds of lawyers and their clients come daily. The Smart City project authorities should have developed public parking space near the judicial complex to handle the traffic. As no parking space is available, people park their vehicles along the roadside, leading to congestion in the area.”

Residents alleged that many commercial buildings were coming in the ward, even in residential areas. They said mostly, people were using their parking spaces for the commercial purpose and due to this, vehicles were generally parked along the road, leading to traffic congestion.

They said the police generally check the illegal parking of vehicles along the roads whenever there was a VVIP movement in the area or when cricket matches were organised.

“The Depot Bazaar and Civil Bazaar areas that fall in the ward are heritage zones of the city. Under the Smart City project when about Rs 650 crore has been spent, some project should have been created to protect and project the heritage of the old city,” the residents said.

They demanded that dustbins should be provided in the area. They alleged that the civic body had removed dustbins from the area after door-to-door collection of garbage scheme was implemented. Public dustbins should be installed at least in commercial areas so that waste can be thrown in these to ensure cleanliness, they added.