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Cuttack, August 25: Basic amenities like road connectivity, sanitation and piped water supply have remained a pipedream for the residents of Satigumpha slum at Satichaura in the Millennium City here allegedly due to the apathy of the civic body and the district administration.
According to sources, around 50 families of the slum are also residing under the constant threat of health hazards due to the presence of a dumping yard of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) near the slum.
Satigumpha slum, which has a population of over 400, came into being in 1982. However, neither the district administration nor the CMC reportedly cared to provide basic amenities to the slum dwellers. The slum, though comes under the geographical jurisdiction of Ward No-6 of the civic body, its residents are officially considered as the voters of Ward No-7. Sandwiched between jurisdictional issue and administrative apathy, Satigumpha slum dwellers have lost all hopes of getting support from their elected representatives, sources said.
“Neither the CMC nor the district administration has ever bothered to provide basic amenities at Satigumpha slum. We are yet to have a proper road to the slum and drinking water supply. Three tube-wells have been catering to the needs of the slum for the past several years,” said Bhubaneswar Sahu, a slum dweller.
Ward No-7 corporator Ranjeeta Biswal said she was quite aware of the problems plaguing the Satigumpha slum and had often tried to address them in the past. However, she said, “The corporator of Ward No-6 should address the issues of the slum dwellers as it is under that territorial jurisdiction.”
Ward No-6 corporator Sanjukta Sahu, however, said the slum dwellers have never approached her regarding their problems. “The residents of the slum have often told me that I am not their elected representative,” Sahu quipped.
