Habitations spring up here and there on their own, in private lands, and in a haphazard manner. That is how cities develop across the country, as governments are abdicating their responsibility or are shy of getting involved or regulating matters. Planned city development is still a far cry, though Bhubaneswar is lucky to have its central city laid out in a planned manner. Attempts at infrastructure build-up, like tarred roads, do not go hand in hand, and they start much later at the sweet will of the sleepy civic fathers. So with the AIIMS Nagar in Patrapada in Ward 65 – on National Highway 16 – which is where the reputed All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has its regional base. A close look of the locality by ARINDAM GANGULY.
BHUBANESWAR: AIIMS came into being in year 2012. Till then, Patrapada area had no spectacular identity of its own. Residential areas began coming up fast and the real estate price in the area shot up. Those who have come and set up homes in the area however have only tales of woe to tell. The municipality is slow in responding to their cries for civic amenities. The worse days are when it rains. Several roads in the area are not tarred. Hundreds of families have problem getting out of their homes for their daily chores. Walking is altogether difficult and vehicles too get dirty by negotiating their way through muddy roads. Chaotic days are here for them. Adding to the problem, there is hardly any drainage system in place. Every rain brings with it the serious problem of water-logging in the area. Pools of water remain on roads for days on end. All these also add to the problem of mosquito menace. Many of those who have come and set up their homes curse themselves for their present plight. Around 500 families live in more than 300 houses at AIIMS Nagar, a major habitation in the area. Patrapada has many residential besides the star attractions like the AIIMS hospital, the Biju Patnaik State Police Academy, the Xavier Public School, several branches of national banks like SBI, Central Bank of India, Union Bank and the Oriental Bank of Commerce. To complement this is the slums that have sprung up in the area taking advantage of the new-found
economic hyper activity and mushrooming of residential areas in Patrapada. Those who live in slums, naturally, live without any civic facility. The population in the area is roughly put at about 2,000.
WHAT THEY SAY
“Due to heavy rain, the roads develop big potholes that are full of rain water. We dread taking our vehicles out lest it should get dirty passing through potholed roads and slushy areas, eventually damaging them. When it rains, we leave our vehicles in our house. It is virtually impossible to take vehicles out after it rains. Several accidents occur here because of the bad condition of roads,” says Ullash Chandra Sethy, a local.
“Due to the bad condition of the roads, it becomes impossible for us to get out of our homes. We are silently suffering the situation here, as complaints to the municipal authorities or ward representative does not help at all,” says Dilip Parida, a teacher Mahaveer Engineering College. Another problem is the condition of the roads is so bad that auto rickshaws refuse to come to the area to pick up or drop passengers. If one is ready to come, he will seek a fortune by way of jacked up rates. This is the case of ambulances too. In an emergency situation when someone needs to be rushed to a hospital, this is proving to be a big problem for the residents. Once the contidition of my brother suffering from kidney problems turned very serious. We called an ambulance service, but they refused to come, saying there was no ambulance at their disposal. This, after they asked us as to from where we were calling. Then we tried to cal an auto rickshaw, but no one would come. They said the road was bad, so they would not come. It was a hard struggle for quite some time until an Ola vehicle came in and took my brother to hospital,” he adds. Says Soren Patnaik, a bank employee, “We recently formed a welfare association and met corporator Jyotsnamayee Jena, Mayor Ananata Narayan Jena and other officials, to complain about the poor road construction. They heard us out, but till now no action has been taken. With more rain expected in the coming days, the condition of the roads will only worsen. Because vehicles are not ready to come in, children in the area are frequently missing their classes. What type of a smart city will Bhubaneswar be if this is the condition of roads,” asks Ashutosh Patra, a college student of NM Institute of Engineering and Technology in the area. “We basically sit back at our homes when the rain worsens the condition of roads.” “This area turns messy and filthy during the entire rainy season,” says Indramani Mullick, a bank employee. There are lots of vacant space around the residential buildings, which are marshy lands. Water accumulates there after every rain, and there’s no drainage facility. The result is the entire area becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes. The sewerage problem also aggravates during the rainy season. We keep calling the BMC, but who cares,” adds Indramani.
CORPORATOR’S TAKE
City Corporator Jyotsnamayee Jena responded to residents’ complaints by saying unavailability of funds is the main reason for the failure in the proper upkeep of the roads in the area. “This locality was included in the BMC after the 2014 municipal elections. We sought a total of Rs 2crore for all the works in the area including road construction. We erected around 700 metres of roads. Because of the shortage of funds, much more couldn’t be done,” she says. Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena says he will look into the issues of the area and arrange funds for the proper upkeep of the area. “I will do my best,” he promises when OP asked him about the difficult situation for residents.
CIVIC TEAM
Recently, BMC decided to form a technical team to identify grey areas in underdeveloped wards so that amenities like roads, drainage and street lighting systems could be provided or improved. Additional commissioner Alok Kar said the chief finance officer and the city engineer would be part of the team which would be visiting the underdeveloped areas. A provision of additional aid for this purpose has been made in the annaul budget of the corporation, he said.
