Poor drainage & parking plague Kangna Dhar

Sameer Singh

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Shimla, May 1

Badly maintained retaining walls, parking woes, traffic congestion, poor drainage system, potholed sidewalks, stray dog and money menace are the key issues plaguing Kangna Dhar area that falls under ward number 30.

Candidates in the fray for the forthcoming Shimla Municipal Corporation elections, scheduled to take place on May 2, said providing a permanent solution to the issues of public concern would be their top-most priority.

A ward resident said, “We have been paying all taxes and bills on time but there is still a lack of basic facilities and the existing infrastructure is not being maintained properly in our ward. There are towering retaining walls in our ward but many of them haven’t been maintained properly. Some of these walls have developed cracks and can collapse anytime, leading to accidents.”

Another resident of the ward said, “Parking is a major problem here and traffic congestion is an order of the day. Due to narrow roads and parking on both sides of these roads, accidents have taken place on a number of occasions. A person lost his life and several others have gotten injured. There is a common land where a parking lot can be constructed, but successive governments and their ward councillors have not made any efforts to resolve this problem to date. These issues have been brought to the notice of the Chief Minister and the Governor, but to no avail.”

Amit Singh, another resident, rued, “There is no dispensary in our ward and in case of medical exigencies people have to face a lot of inconvenience. We also demand that separate roads of ambulance be constructed in the ward and complete connectivity to every nook and cranny of the ward must be ensured so that people do not have to suffer in case of medical emergencies. There are potholes on roads, making it difficult for the pedestrians to walk. The drainage system in many areas of the ward is quite poor. We also request that the government must provide us relief from stray dog and monkey menace.”

There are 1,900 voters in the ward. Renu Chauhan is contesting the election on the BJP ticket, the AAP has fielded Jeevan Sharma and Ram Ratan Sharma is fighting on the Congress ticket.

Residents a harried lot

• A ward resident said, “We have been paying all taxes and bills on time but there is still a lack of basic facilities and the existing infrastructure is not being maintained properly in our ward. There are towering retaining walls but many of them haven’t been maintained properly
• Another resident of the ward said, “Parking is a major problem here and traffic congestion is an order of the day. Due to narrow roads and parking on both sides of these roads, accidents have taken place
• Amit Singh, another resident, rued, “There is no dispensary in our ward and in case of medical exigencies people have to face a lot of inconvenience
• Candidates in the fray for the forthcoming Shimla Municipal Corporation elections, scheduled to take place on May 2, said providing a permanent solution to the issues of public concern would be their top-most priority