Waris Fayaz
Sopore, Jul 6: The residents of Hyder Colony Ward 14 in Sopore town of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district are up in arms against the line departments including Roads and Buildings, Jal Shakti and Municipal Council for “failing” to provide them with basic facilities.
“With around 400 households, ours seems to be the most neglected locality in Sopore,” the residents said.
“We have been neglected on all fronts. The LG administration must seriously look into our problems,” they said. “The line departments have neglected us, they are playing with our sentiments; nobody from the administration is bothered to visit us.”
The locals who were on protest, said, “There is a shortage of drinking water, poor drainage facility and dilapidated roads in the area. The locality has been overlooked by the consecutive governments and nobody seems to be taking our issues seriously. We are always being used as a vote bank by the politicians (whosoever) including councilors. We cast votes for the first time just to see development in our area, but unfortunately, nothing happened on the ground.”
“We have been victimised and befooled by the so-called leaders who only visit us for votes,” said Irshad Ahmed, a protester, adding, “The concerned departments are playing with our sentiments.”
Similarly, Mushtaq Ahmed Changa, a local Auqaf president said, “The roads in the entire Hyder Colony (A B & C) are dotted with big potholes and have not been repaired for several years. The authorities are least bothered about the people’s sufferings.”
He said only a few minutes of rain causes water logging in the area, Changa said, adding, “We are paying taxes and other necessary charges for being in town; however, we are not getting anything (development) which a town must have.”
We have several times approached the concerned departments for our genuine demands but all in vain, the Auqaf president said.
The residents appealed to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Deputy Commissioner Baramulla to look into the matter at the earliest.
Irfan Ali, the concerned councilor, said that the area is indeed facing issues like drainage, roads, etc; however, it is the “failure of three-tier democratic setup”. “The roads will be repaired and macadamised soon as they are already in the proposal,” he said.
When contacted, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Sopore, S A Raina assured early redressal of the demands of Hyder Colony residents. “We won’t let people suffer,” the ADC said.
