Centenarian fights to clear debris outside home

DN Tara doesn’t look like a 103-year-old as he walks to the nearby CPWD enquiry office. Age hasn’t stopped this centenarian from taking matters in his own hands as the Laxmi Bai Nagar neighbourhood he lives in is plagued by apathy from the authorities.

DN Tara doesn’t look like a 103-year-old as he walks to the nearby CPWD enquiry office. Age hasn’t stopped this centenarian from taking matters in his own hands as the Laxmi Bai Nagar neighbourhood he lives in is plagued by apathy from the authorities.

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“It took three months of regular prodding for them to come and unblock a drain near my house. Now for the past 20 days I’ve been going and asking them to remove the debris. But inspite of assurances, no work has been done,” Tara, a freedom fighter and native of Punjab who shifted to this Laxmibai Nagar residence with his wife 13 years ago, said.

“I’ve even called up the CPWD officials. The problem with agencies like CPWD is that they do a project but don’t remove the malba,” the former newspaper editor said while pointing out the dug out and ravaged portions of the service roads and the neighbourhood park.

So what do a senior citizen who lives with his bedridden wife have to do to get the surrounding of his home clear of the mess made by the authorities?

When contacted by Hindustan Times, CPWD executive engineer (D Division) Dharam Singh said the necessary instruction has been given to remove the malba from the particular site.

“I had spoken to him (DN Tara) as he had called me to voice his dissent. I’ve given instructions to the assistant engineer and don’t know why it still hasn’t been cleared. These works happen at many places in our jurisdiction. I’ve told them to collect these construction waste with wheelbarrows and keep them at a spot which doesn’t bother residents, from where trucks can take them away,” Singh said, adding that the malba from near DN Tara’s Laxmibai Nagar residence will be removed as soon as possible.