Tang Bagh locality without drainage facility

By Irshad Khan

Srinagar, Mar 29: Tang Bagh locality at Eidgah here is without a proper drainage system.
The water discharge from around 100 households populating the area, stretching from Tibetan Colony up to Aali Masjid, flows through the open road.
Although the authorities started a drainage project along the Eidgah road, but it was suspended midway for unknown reasons, Dr Abdul Rashid Matoo, a resident alleged.
Now, the small completed portion of the drain, too, has turned defunct, he said.
“The compounds of our houses get inundated during rains,” he added.
Apart from the stench from the waste water, Arshid Hussain, a resident, said there was a danger of “drowning” in the water.
“The water is very deep at some places. To add to it, the grass that grows all over it in summers makes it even riskier, especially for the children,” Hussain said.
“Even the few manholes that have been built are of no use, as there is no way out for the waste water,” he added.
While some of the waste water used to flow into the nearby Wakf land earlier, Hussain said that the problem has compounded after the the land was mended.
“Our houses are placed lower than the main road. The whole locality gets inundated in water in rains,” said Hussain.
During the 2014 floods, Hussain said that the residential houses remained inundated in water “for 20 days”.
“We have made several representations to the authorities including the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), but to no avail,” he alleged.
The authorities, as per Hussain, had been citing “non-availability of funds”.
While the authorities had been boasting of “beautification” of Srinagar, Imtiyaz Hussain, a local said that the absence of a proper drainage system in the area “deflated their claims”.
Confirming the absence of a proper drainage system in the area, Executive Engineer Sewerage and Drainage Division 2nd Srinagar, Azad Ahmad Beigh, said a proper drainage system would be constructed in the area soon.
“I will send a team there within a couple of days to assess the scenario,” Beigh added.