KL Report
Srinagar
Questioning the government claims on development of Srinagar city, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Tuesday claimed under the present dispensation the capital city has witnessed a total reversal of planned development process and it has been left to the whims and political priorities of a few ruling politicians.
In a statement the party chief spokesperson Naeem Akhtar said the NC has historically curtailed the development vision of the residents of Srinagar through their emotional exploitation which has reduced the once most glorious habitation of the region to an urban disaster.
The spokesperson said even though cities and towns through out the country benefited from the JNNURM for upgrading civic amenities especially the drainage and sewerage, Srinagar has failed to even make a beginning as a result of the inefficiency and lack of political direction. “Even the Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded prestigious projects for reconstruction has been derailed which could have contributed significantly to the sanitation to the city. What instead has happened is that most of the roads especially in the northern part have been ripped open and for construction of drains and have been in that condition for years. Many people have suffered injuries and some people have even migrated from those areas because of the government’s inability to complete these projects in these areas,” he said.
On the other hand Akhtar said in most of the other areas the schemes were not even taken in hand with the result that human waste and stagnant water have created a noxious mix that is resulting in stink and disease. “In many areas of Shaher-e-Khas the stink which is attributed to the Achan dump has made life impossible,” he said.
Achan, he said, has become a gold mine for some politicians patronizing land mafia and them selves owning huge estates around it. Akhtar said the government that is not able to relieve the Srinagar city of its waste and refuse is taking the public opinion for a ride on issues like autonomy that the NC has sold many times over to stay in power.
Demanding chemical examination of the water coming out of the STPs Akhtar said that there are reports that none of these is working upto the desired standard. He said while the city waste continues to go into Dal almost untreated as a result of defunct STPs a politician has promoted illegal and unauthorized constructions all around the lake from Nowpora to Saidakadal. In pursuit of his vote bank the area is out of bounds for the municipality with the result that open drains carry human waste straight into the Dal in those areas. The Chief Minister’s late initiative to attempt fast tracking of Dal rehabilitation plan has already become meaning less in view of the politicians of his own party promoting vandalization of the lake at an unprecedented scale.
