Cracked walls, leaky roofs a dampener Chandigarh Sector-24 residents

Residents of government houses in Chandigarh’s Sector 24 say their requests for long-pending repairs have fallen on deaf ears

Residents of Sector 24, especially those from the C and D categories housing clerical staff and government school and college teachers, have been calling for attention towards the poor conditions of the houses — which they say are in immediate need of repairs

Chandigarh engineering department officials inspected the dilapidated houses in Sector 24 recently. (HT File)

The recent monsoon fury worsened their woes, with complaints of cracked ceilings, leaks, damp walls, malfunctioning kitchens and bathrooms being commonplace.

Sector 24 is the city’s only sector with just government houses. While the category A and B houses are allotted to IAS officers, high court judges and lawyers, PGIMER employees, and to the officers of UT administration and municipal corporation, those in the C and D categories are allotted to clerical staff, superintendents, teachers of government schools and colleges, and other government staff.

Sharing his ordeal, Sheshpal, a resident, said, “The houses are old and lack maintenance. The category C and D houses are totally ignored by the administration. Every monsoon, we live in misery with leaking roofs, damp walls and smelly washrooms.”

Echoing the sentiment, Anita Sharma, another resident, said, “Despite repeated complaints, the administration pays no heed towards our demands. Repair of ceiling is our first priority as due to leakage, our furniture gets damaged. Washrooms and kitchens need repair too.”

Area councillor Saurabh Joshi, who visited the houses on Friday to take stock of the situation, said, “These government houses are managed by the UT administration’s engineering department. But as the complaints about the worried state of the government quarters were pouring in abundance,”

“I had called upon officers of UT’s maintenance department and went on a door-to-door visit to those houses. The houses need immediate repair due to broken ceiling, walls and flooring. People have to cover their roofs with tarpaulin sheets, so as to safeguard their broken ceilings from leakage, in case it rains again,” he added.

Joshi added that UT administration officers had accompanied him to the inspection and have assured him that an estimate of repair of houses will be made and begin repairs work soon.

UT chief engineer CB Ojha, meanwhile, said, “Our teams have inspected the houses and immediate short term repairs have been made. Also, we have floated tenders for proper repairs of the houses.”