Aaryan Sharma
JAMMU: Every year, ahead of the Durbar Move from Srinagar to Jammu, the City of Temples receives a major face lift.
Almost all the link roads connected with the Civil Secretariat complex from different directions are black topped, cleaned and painted afresh.
To avoid congestion at busy crossings, the traffic lights are repaired and made operational.
Several office complexes including Jammu Civil Secretariat complex too gets a face-lift to welcome the entire government machinery.
The electric and water supply too gets top priority and owing to fair weather conditions the local residents seldom face scarcity of water and enjoy uninterrupted power supply at least in metered areas.
Ironically, for another six months when the seat of power is shifted to Srinagar, the same government machinery goes into holiday mode.
On daily basis the local residents in and around Jammu stage protest demonstrations, highlighting issues of ‘Bijli, Sadak and Pani but fail to earn respite due to poor working culture and lack of political will.
Instead of acknowledging their demands the ‘babudom’ goes in to silent mode and expresses their helplessness to respond to the emergency situations.
In case of breakdown of power transformers the PDD officials fail to meet the deadline and struggle to arrange replacements at short notices.
The scarcity of drinking water peeks during summer season but so far the concerned agencies have failed to find a permanent solution, despite spending huge sums of money on upgrading infrastructure and laying water pipes.
When it comes to general maintenance of the city, JMC focuses all its energies on residential areas across Tawi bridge and other parts suffer due to lack of manpower and proper planning. In the absence of adequate treatment plants for waste management, heaps of garbage lies scattered and during rainy season choked lanes and drains add to the miseries of common masses in the low lying areas of Jammu city.
Even the areas in and around the Civil Secretariat complex receive a raw deal. The statue of Raja Jambulochan and iconic replica of lion and goat drinking water from the same pond lie in a state of utter neglectm waiting for the Durbar Move before getting a face lift. The Floriculture Department and JMC officers shy away from maintaining the area for reasons best known to them. Different agencies entrusted with the responsibility of keeping the area neat and clean including Jammu Municipal Corporation, Floriculture Department, Jammu Development Authority, PDD and PHE fail to come up to the expectations of common masses. The traffic congestion in old city area and haphazard parking of vehicles and rash driving by matadoor drivers add to the miseries of residents relying on public transport system.
