Srinagar, May 21: The residents of colonies falling under the Badami Bagh Cantonment Board jurisdiction have appealed the Deputy Chief Minister, Tara Chand to get the colonies shifted to the Srinagar Municipal Corporation pleading that the cantonment board authorities were “inaccessible to the locals and doing little for public welfare”.
 The locals of areas like Sonawar, Shivpora and Indira Nagar said their life had become miserable due to the “inaccessible authorities.”
 For any civic amenity related work or for movement of heavy vehicle like tippers into the colonies, the locals have to approach the cantonment board, the office of which lies in the fortified army area.
 “It takes us days to get entry into the Cantonment Board office. First we have to send our I-Card inside and if the identity is liked, a pass is granted for entry inside the camp,” said a local adding it was his third trip trying get an appointment wit the Board people.
 “What is the fun of keeping a public office inside a fortified camp?” he argued.
 Transportation of construction material to the colonies, the locals said, was more cumbersome.
 “Leave apart permission for vehicle entry, one has to get a police verification of the driver done then only a tipper or any load carrier permission is granted,” said some locals.
 “Due to the messy issuance of pass,” the locals said, “load carriers intending to drive down the area charge more.”
 “We have to pay almost double what people of other City areas pay for truckload of construction material like sand and stones,” said some locals of Sonawar.
 Khurshid Ahmed (name changed), who has recently shifted to Indira Nagar said: “Did I know it will be so inconvenient to live in a cantonment area I would never buy a house here.”
 The locals said they also face sanitation and drainage related problems.
 Despite  repeated attempts, the cantonment board authorities couldn’t be contacted for comment.
 Meanwhile, locals appealed Tara who is also the Minister for Housing and Urban Development to look into the matter and get the areas transferred to SMC purview at an earliest.

Lastupdate on : Fri, 21 May 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 21 May 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 22 May 2010 00:00:00 IST