Jammu, August 6: There seems no respite from the collapsed drainage system of Jammu city even as crores of rupees are spent every year to promise better drainage system the next year but once the Monsoon arrives those crores go down the drain only to be constructed once again and the vicious circle continues.
Jammu city is synonymous with the Nallah politics as every year we see MLAs busy in photographing themselves with pick axes and shovels initiating the works on lanes and drains only to find the same set of people repeating the exercise the next year.
However what has intrigued the people nowadays is that the drainage politics or Nallah politics has seen a new low with new set of politicians elected in the recent elections dismantling the drains or nallah covers under the guise of clearing the drainage system only because the nallah was covered by the MLA of the erstwhile political setup and the new MLA wants this to be credited to his name.
Such incident was witnessed near the Chandi mata temple recently where the cover of the Nallah was dismantled with the plea that Nallah would be raised even as the same nallah is covered right from the Gurudwara but since the portion near Chandi Mata temple was constructed under the directions of the earlier MLA it had to go.
This nallah politics is taking a new turn in the city with entire civic works being politicized and repairs either ignored or further dismantled to put the credit lines to the new set of politicians.
At the same time it has also come to notice that certain areas needing immediate repair or protection walls are ignored because the concerned people don’t have connections with the new politicians.
The recent flooding in Talab Tillo area is an example where the local MLA and the Deputy Chief Minister visited on the recommendation of the local leaders while a portion on the nallah requiring protection wall was deliberately ignored as the local MLA does not see the concerned person in attendance at his Durbar.
The city of temples that has been converted in the city of potholes has been left fending for itself while the civic authorities are looking the other way prompting people to ask whether there was any government at all in the state.
The common perception of the people was that after the new government takes place their first priority would be to restore the damaged roads, nallahs, lanes and drains initiate steps for a beautiful city but on the contrary what the Jammuites are witnessing is complete chaos as far as drainage system is concerned and with a little bit of rain the entire city gets submerged and so does the vehicles in the flooded streets and directly into the manholes with no visibility around.
It is strange that despite many months of governance the new government is yet to take any decision on repair of the roads, drains or nallahs perhaps expecting some kind of a miracle to happen that repairs them in a wink.
The new set of politicians must stop taking people for granted and also come out of this Nalhah politics and think big for the city as time is running out and when the six years fly away they will not even notice hence they must start the developmental works right now that were promised to people during the elections.