AAP effect? South Delhi locality says governance back in area

Merely a day after Aam Aadmi Party’s landslide victory in the Delhi election, residents of south Delhi’s Sangam Vihar say that they have already started noticing positive changes in their neighbourhood.

Merely a day after the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP's) landslide victory in the Delhi election, residents of south Delhi’s Sangam Vihar said on Wednesday they had already started noticing positive changes in their neighbourhood.

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Similar to the impact witnessed during AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal’s 49-day rule, residents say that Day 1 started without them having to pay money to government officials.

“Every day I used to be stopped at the entry point of Jal Vihar and the police official stationed there would blatantly ask me for money to allow me to transport goods. But today despite the same official being present I was not stopped,” said Rudal Kumar, who transports goods in a cart.

Kumar is a resident of J block at Sangam Vihar and earns merely Rs 200 a day. Sadly the amount he was giving to the official on a monthly basis was more than his daily earning. He is also been through days when in an attempt to negotiate his goods were thrown or confiscated.

Like Kumar there are thousands of residents of the largest unauthoriaed colony in Asia, who voted for AAP, in the hope of a better lifestyle. Dinesh Mohaniya, the party’s candidate won by a whopping margin of 43,989 votes.

Divided in different blocks with narrow unpaved road, overflowing gutters, garbage heaps and foul smell are the characteristic feature of the colony. Dilip Kumar is one of the many residents whose house is now a puddle of gutter water.

“The civic body employees do not clean the drains for months. The condition gets so bad that the water overflows to our houses. The dump that they collect is heaped outside our houses and that emits bad smell. During AAP’s rule the MCD official used to clean our lanes but now they only sweep the main road,” Kumar a resident of Block 16 said.