‘Kishtwar records various developments in terms of roads and expansions ,the district is at a commendable level but the pot holes in the street of Kishtwar,J&K are still looked away and sometimes municipality starts works to renovate and make a hygienic street environment in Kishtwar but still people are suffering from this fake promise.’ Kishtwar is a district of jammu province and the town has municipal committee for the developmental processes of the whole town including thirteen (13) municipality wards. Various
Infrastructural works take place but the general public of Kishtwar is suffering and is bereft from the principal developmental works—in which the renovation of the streets is a great issue and need of the hour but despite various times local administration make assurance but it had not been done yet. Street means a pathway which connects various markets with each other and have shops and houses on both or one side also links different municipal wards.There are various areas in the town where the situation of the streets is improper and are lacking hygiene.However,in Kishtwar district areas such as Brahman Mohalla, Gudhali chock and other streets linking heart of the town to various other streets are some examples of the poorly maintained streets.In the jurisdiction of the Municipal committee, many of the such streets lie and it provides a setback to that whole scenario whether drainage or street condition in the district is still waiting for new tenders and procedures, people are eagerly awaiting the arrival of these tenders, hoping the way forward becomes clear soon but no one knows when will the day come when people will witness a well maintained streets.
Due to these bad street conditions, many residents are suffering from dust and water leakages on the streets making the whole pathway watery and it causes formation of mosquitoes and leads to diseases.
“All the streets requires attention for reconstruction and filling of all these looked away potholes and it will help the local residents to make their houses sanitized as well as shopkeepers to attract their customers and it is a common sense that clean environment is important for all the citizens as India has launched Swach Bharat Abhiyan a decade ago.”
While the shopkeepers of the streets face problems and it becomes challenging for them to maintain hygiene at their shops as more dust and water are present every time. These streets also witnesses potholes— which make walking and riding unsafe and poor drainage system causes accumulation of rainwater in the potholes. Moreover, the garbage managing system is not effective as at various places dustbins are not placed for the collection of garbage produced at residential and commercial setups. Due to which these street side shopkeepers throw waste outside their shops which becomes problematic for animals as well as the condition of the street. Meanwhile, it is also a responsibility of shopkeepers to manage the waste accumulated from their shops and local residents should not throw garbage without using a dustbin specifically because by throwing waste in an open ecosystem can cause various diseases and make condition of street unhygienic.This situation doesn’t stop here whether the drain gates on the streets for the purpose of drainage management are misplaced in some streets and has become a threat to the life of motorcyclists and results in accident and injuries. It also impacts greatly on the local economy of the district by emerging the difficulties to the customers to reach the shops efficiently. Many old-aged people do not prefer to move through these pathways and choose the remaining option that is moving through long and time consuming pathways. However, multiple times public deputation invites local administration for looking into the matter,various officials come but the situation remains unchanged. In conversation with Dr.Mujtaba Dev,a local resident of one such a street, he said “The condition of all the streets of our town is same. For the past five years, we have been facing numerous problems, and when it rains for more than two hours, there is a high risk of drain water entering our homes. So far , at least 200 people have been injured on one such street due to poorly maintenance, yet the administration has not taken any effective action and we urge the local administration and municipality officials to take effective action to address these prolonged issues and ensure the safety of the residents,” he added. Moreover, all the streets requires attention for reconstruction and filling of all these looked away potholes and it will help the local residents to make their houses sanitized as well as shopkeepers to attract their customers and it is a common sense that clean environment is important for all the citizens as India has launched Swach Bharat Abhiyan a decade ago.
(The author is a freelancer. The views, opinions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the author and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”)
Ayaan Saroori
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