The residents of half a dozen localities of Downtown are yearning for a much-needed community centre, a bridge at Zaina Kadal, a fire station and parking place for the last 16 years.
“We have been running from pillar to post for the last 16 years for these petty things but our requests have not been given ear all these years”, a delegation of the mohalla committee of these areas said.
The delegation comprising members from Zaina Kadal, Gadyar, Malik Pora, Gada Bazar, Zarab Khana and Saraf Kadal said they have sought the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s intervention to resume the work on the community Centre and the bridge which have been halted due to the reasons best known to the then ruling party.
Giving details, the delegation said the work on the community centre was taken up in 2002 to cater the needs of residents of Zaina Kadal, Gadyar, Malikpora, Gada Bazar, Zarab Khana and other adjoining areas. But the work was stopped during the tenure of National Conference government. “Later on, we brought the matter to the notice of the then coalition government headed by PDP to resume the work on these projects but they turned a blind eye towards this “humanitarian” problem,” they said.
“Despite of the fact that the site proposed was a privately owned structure, a portion of the property is already owned by the government and the funds being released in favour of the defaulters”, the work was not resumed on the much-needed community centre, the delegation said.
They said a portion of construction and demolition debris consisting of wooden frames, windows, doors is still inside the compound and now the compound is turned into a resting and residing place for a number of stray dogs thereby adding to the inconveniences faced by the population.
“The portion of the structure which is still intact is further used for various immoral and illegal activities by some unknown persons. Besides, this the portion of the structure which is structurally unstable due to the demolition of the remaining half of the structure can collapse at any time leading to the unfortunate loss of life and property”, the delegation said.
They said in the absence of the community centre in the area, residents are compelled to install tents on the road pavement itself in case of marriages or deaths as we are left with no alternative. These factors do result in the damage of roads and movement of traffic and pedestrains, which cause a bunch of inconveniences to an appreciable portion of population.
The delegation said as a responsible citizens, they had raised this issue during a meeting held under the supervision of the then district development commissioner on 19 May,2008, but the desire to have a community centre is still unfulfilled.
Putting forth their demand for construction of a bridge near Zaina Kadal, the delegation said the proposed bridge was to be constructed near Gadyar masjid in order to suffice the need of increased traffic.
In order to facilitate the project few shops have already been demolished and have been allotted new shop sites in Bohri kadal area. The work was handed over to a state owned executing agency JKPCC and later on the work on the said project was stopped due to the reasons best known to the ruling party.
They said the area had a small fire and emergency unit from the time of Maharaja. They said but due to some unfortunate structural failure the structure for the said unit got damaged as the building meant for the fire and emergency unit was too old and must have passed its design life period. “The state administration officials inspected the area and shut down the entire official set up and the people of the area were left with no such unit,” they said.
They said that in case “there is some unfortunate incidence in future leading to the loss of life or property the responsibility of the said loss will certainly rest on the shoulders of the government.”
They are also demanding parking place for the residents so that they cannot keep the vehicles on the roads which cause inconvenience to the fellow citizens.
(KASHMIR WIRE)