Drains full of garbage, illegal parking and faulty high-mast lights in East Delhi’s Shahdara (North) Zone were found when senior officials from the local civic body inspected the area on Friday.
East Delhi Municipal Corporation Mayor Meenakshi, accompanied by BJP MLA from Mustafabad Jagdish Pradhan, led a team of municipal councillors and officials in inspecting the area from Chandbagh Pulia to Shiv Vihar Pulia. Ms. Meenakshi herself represents Shiv Vihar ward in the EDMC.
“We were getting complaints about unauthorised parking, mounds of garbage, potholes and silt in the drains so I decided to inspect the area myself,” the Mayor said.
During the inspection, the Mayor found drains clogged with trash, cars parked illegally on the stretch from Bhajanpura Chowk to Chandbagh Chowk and high-mast lights out of order. Members of RWAs and market associations also raised concerns of the lack of sanitation.
The BJP-led corporation had ramped up garbage lifting and sweeping after the launch of the Narendra Modi Government’s Swachh Bharat initiative in October last year. The Mayor denied that the ongoing financial crisis, which has delayed salary payments, had any effect on sanitation services.
She ordered officials to have the drains de-silted, the illegal parking removed and the broken lights repaired. Seeing the traffic situation at Shiv Vihar Pulia, she also ordered officials to widen the road to ease vehicular movement.
Leader of the Opposition Varyam Kaur, however, remained sceptical. “If the Mayor cannot ensure that her own ward is clean, how will she keep East Delhi clean? The BJP may talk about Swachh Bharat, but it is merely sloganeering.”
