 Early Times Report
Jammu, July 6: The residents of Bagh-e-Bahu Mohalla have been facing serious threat to their lives due to seepage of water into their houses, which have developed fissures in the walls, due to continuous dampness.
The locals of Bagh-e-Bahu Mohalla Omi Devi, Rocky, Srishta Devi, Raj Kumari, Kanta Devi, Rahul, Shrishta, Neetu, Sanjogita, Ruby, Deepak informed Early Times that a shallow drain passed came from temple, which drained into a old drainage nullah.
"During every rain, the water from the temple side, came into the lane and due to shallow lane, it ultimately overflowed, making way into the houses of the local residents", the locals said, adding that the drain has not been constructed for the last many years.
They further said that the drain was not completely cemented, which led to dampness and moisture in all the houses. "Due to prolonged dampness of the walls as well as roof tops, many houses have developed cracks and some portion of the roofs have already crumbled", they said.
While showing the crumbling structures, some locals claimed that they had abandoned their houses and using them as store houses due to threat of crumbling anytime. "The plaster of the walls didn't remain for more than one season due to dampness but it is not possible for everyone to get their houses repaired every years as most of the people were daily wage workers", they said, adding that the houses at the lower end of the drain, have also been caving-in due to lack of repairs.
"The drain was constructed over a decade back and due to continuous flow of water and no repairs, it has been eating away its corners with each passing month, posing serious threat to houses of cave-in any time", the locals said, adding that they have been spending their nights under persistent threat to their lives.
"None of the politician or administrative official visit our locality and if on occasion, someone of them visited the locality, they also gave only assurances, which would never implemented", the locals claimed.
The locals further claimed that they have not got the benefit of toilet facility under Swatch Bharat Mission. "We had filled the forms but after that none came to construct the toilets but we came to know from some people that money has already been siphoned on their name", the locals claimed and rued the politicians for ignoring the poor people of the area.
The locals also claimed that sweepers seldom visit their locality and they were forced to clean the drains on their own and no dustbin was placed there by authorities to dump the garbage and ultimately it landed in the drains, which ultimately clogged them. |
