A public park in Ashok Vihar Phase 1 in North Delhi is a classic example of how government apathy can lead to wastage of precious public resources and challenge the morale and patience of residents trying to find a solution to the issue.
Developed by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the park’s water pipeline bursts every three to four months, leading to the spillage and wastage of millions of gallons of the precious commodity in a city where millions struggle to get access to it for fulfilling even their basic day-to-day needs, especially during the summer.
The residents complain that apart from the criminal wastage of water, the spillage causes an obstruction for joggers and walkers visiting the park. It also gets accumulated in front of the houses facing the park, causing inconvenience to the residents, they rued.
“Not just that, when the Delhi Jal Board does send a team to repair the pipeline, they destroy the walking track in the process since they deploy a JCB, without caring for the delicacy of the situation,” said Dr HC Gupta, president, Federation of Ashok Vihar RWAs.
The walking track, incidentally, was built with special funds allocated by BJP MP and former Union Health Minister Dr Harshvardhan in August, 2021.
“The pipeline has burst five times since then. Another loss of public funds happens in the form of vandalism of the open gym in the park which is now in a precarious condition and cannot be used by the residents,” Gupta added.
He said that the pipeline issue remained unresolved for the eight years, simply because the agencies involved – the DDA and the DJB – are unwilling to be held accountable for it. “They just keep passing the buck to each other or other agencies,” he alleged.
Asked if the residents had flagged the issue before higher authorities, Gupta said the RWA had tried everything, to no avail. “We have informed the concerned officials and elected leaders and followed-up too. Now it is up to these individuals to do their job. We will, however, continue to press for the effective resolution of this issue as we can’t really give up and sit back,” he said.
‘Residents being choked, thanks to Wazirpur area’
Dr HC Gupta, president, Federation of Ashok Vihar RWAs, while talking to Ashish Srivastav, flagged pollution as the most damning issue affecting the locality since it is related to public health directly. Excerpts from an interview:
What are the most pressing issues concerning residents of the area? I feel pollution is the most alarming one since it is directly related to public health. Ashok Vihar is one of the 13 pollution hotspots in the city and most of the days, it tops the chart. This is despite the presence of nearly 400 parks in the locality.
Why is that, considering the ample greenery in the area, as you mentioned? We are surrounded by Wazirpur industrial area. When the DDA allotted plots to the industries there, it was on the condition that only industries related to yarn and other non-polluting activities will be allowed to function. However, it has become a den of polluting activities. Many unlicensed activities like plastic manufacturing and steel wooling work go on on the sly..
What do you think is the solution to this issue? I think if all such industrial units are converted into commercial units, then the problem could be solved. However, I’ve been told that conversion charges payable for converting industrial units to commercial units are very high and not everyone is willing to shell out such a huge amount.
Any other issue you would like to highlight? The rainwater passing through the storm drain in our area falls into sewers and chokes the sewage lines, leading to backflow of sludge. This issue flares up every monsoon season. The mud, dirt and other pollutants flowing with the rain reaches the sewer and chokes its passage.
