Ahead of Haryana Assembly poll, residents protest poor civic infra

With the election campaign picking up, incidents of residents expressing their concerns over poor civic amenities have started surfacing up.

At least two to three incidents of protests have surfaced in the past five days in different Assembly segments, according to sources in the political parties.

In one of the incidents that took place in Newada village of the district on Monday, a candidate of a prominent political party had to face resentment from some residents when he was on way to a place in the village in connection with the campaign.

It was reported that as the candidate’s vehicle stopped due to heavy waterlogging on the main passage ahead, a resident who was present on the spot asked the candidate to get down from the vehicle and dared him to cross the waterlogged street on foot.

He told the candidate that residents of the villages had been facing poor conditions in matters of waterlogging and drainage for years and no one who was elected had done anything to provide a relief to the people. The candidate, who had nothing much to contest the allegations of the resident, said things would change after the elections.

In another incident, a candidate of another party also had to face similar type of anger of two to three women residents in Sanjay Colony here last night when he had gone for a corner meeting in connection with the campaign.

A local resident said some women started rebuking the candidate for not providing potable water to the households. He said the women claimed that they had procured drinking water for their household from private tankers and would not vote for the candidates who have failed to provide them with basic amenities so far.

The third incident of protest took place last week during the passing of the vehicle of a candidate of the ruling party in one of the villages. It is claimed that some of the agitated residents waved black flags in protest against the poor civic amenities, including the bad condition of the approach roads in the area.

“The incidents of protest may further rise in view of the election campaign likely to hit feverish pitch and when many of the voters tend to vent their resentment over the lack of facilities,” said Narender Sirohi, a resident here. The incident of death of two persons due to flooding of an underpass recently had fuelled anger of many, he claimed.