Civic bodies mustn’t disregard common man’s voice

Ashok Talajiya said his ground floor home gets flooded every year even in moderate rain as the nullah is choked. Pic/Hanif Patel

A 70-year-old man sat on a waterlogged road in Vasai for four hours to protest against what he claimed was the abysmal infrastructure of the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC). He claimed he had been complaining to officials about nullah cleaning for years, to no avail.

In addition, his daughter claimed that the concrete base of an electric pole is choking the nullah because of which water flows into their ground floor home every monsoon. The family cited damage to property and unhygienic living conditions. Officials were unavailable to comment on the matter.

The absolute least the civic authorities of the area can do is heed the complaint. This means to acknowledge it and pay a visit to the family's home and the spot to assess the situation and see if there is merit in the complaint.

Once it is established that there is genuine cause for complaint, they must start working on the problem. It is unacceptable that citizens' complaints go unheeded and they have to actually hold dharnas and eyeball-catching extreme measures for some response.

It was heart-rending to see a picture of the senior citizen, putting his life at risk because of so many water-borne diseases, sitting on a waterlogged road and holding up a banner to draw attention to his plight.

There are also claims before every monsoon that nullahs are cleaned and cities are primed and made rain-ready. If nullahs are cleaned, then why is this nullah choked by the concrete base of a pole? Why was this problem not tackled during the cleaning?

We see an absolute disregard for the voice of the common man when it comes to civic and infrastructure woes. This is a festering issue for the family. It calls for response and respect, and a solution in double-quick time.