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Residents face laxity of admin, continue to live in unhygienic state

Many affected with Covid infection, no scope for isolation.

The narrow lanes of Harijan Basti at Rangpuri, New Delhi, portray the horrific sight of poor sanitation and dismal life of people belonging to the Scheduled Caste.

Most of the residents of these colonies have become accustomed to unsanitary conditions. There are no spaces to walk on these lanes without stepping in sludge and faeces.

Some residents also contracted Covid infection and there was no way to isolate themselves. “This is how we’ve always lived. This is how we’ve been living for the past two-three years. Politicians come to seek our votes, then leave us destitute. We are not going to vote for anyone this year,” a resident told The Daily Guardian.

Similar sights were observed at the crematorium near ward 50. The area has been turned into a gutter and cows were feeding on solid garbage in the open space. To reach there, one must walk on the thin water pipes that are connected to the motor pump. However, one of the motors has stopped working affecting the water supply.

“Because the motor isn’t working right now, we’ve been filling 2-3 buckets of water from a local tap and using it all day. We have made multiple complaints, but no action has been taken as of yet for the proper construction of these lanes,” another resident said.

Children are confined to their houses because of lack of space for playing. For them, going to school is a difficult task. “This is nothing; one just needs to visit during the rainy season to understand the dire situation. The water level reaches our knees during that (rainy) season, and we somehow manage to do our daily tasks,” said another woman, who was carrying her child home.

Bijwasan MLA Bhupinder Singh Joon’s personal assistant, said, “We have started the work, the roads and lanes will be constructed soon. I know that the people have been facing the problem, the work was halted because of the pandemic and pollution issue. “

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