Waterlogging in Jaipur: Residents blame civic bosses

JAIPUR: Dirty lanes, which were not cleaned before monsoon, are now getting waterlogged causing trouble to residents. There are around 5,000 such lanes in Walled City. Many complaints are now being filed by residents regarding the dirty lanes that are causing menace during monsoon.
Anil Parashar, a resident of Johri Bazaar, said it had become intolerable to live in Walled City.“They were supposed to be cleaned by Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) every year, but this year tenders were not issued and the lanes are now waterlogged. A foul smell has started emanating from the garbage in the lanes,” Parashar said.
The lanes are actually space between houses in Walled City. At the time of construction, these spaces were left for ventilation. However, now they are being used as dumping yard by people.
Every year, JMC invites tenders to clean the dirty lanes. This year, tender wasn’t invited before the monsoon.
A senior JMC official said, “Everyone got busy with the pandemic. We didn’t get time to invite the tenders. However, documentation is done and after monsoon we will start working towards cleaning them.”
This claim was objected by another resident of Walled City. Vikas Kothari, a resident from Haldiyon ka Rasta, said there is no sense in cleaning the lanes after monsoon.
“The lanes are cleaned every year before monsoon to prevent waterlogging and mosquitoes. However, after monsoon there will be no need of it. JMC has become ignorant about the garbage situation. Door-to-door garbage collection vehicle is not regular despite repeated complaints to the officials. Due to this, many open garbage spots are back in Walled City,” Kothari added.