Whose garbage will it be now?

Residents fear that officials responsible for maintenance and upkeep of the colony will pass the buck every time there is a civic issue in future., reports Atul Mathur. See full coverage.

The Khilnanis and Bhatnagars share a common wall. They draw water from the same line. Both families face problem if the sewer line in their block is choked.

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But both families approach different set of officials and different municipal councillors when it comes to complaining for a common civic problem.

This time, when the city is going in for polls, the two families will not only cast their votes in different polling stations but also for different MLAs.

Delimitation has turned their common wall of C-58 and C-59 in Jangpura Extension into the ‘line of control’.

The A, B and C-1 to C-58 of this colony now fall in Jangpura assembly constituency, rest of the C block along with the other blocks of the colony area are now a part of Kasturba Nagar assembly segment. Not only that, in the parliamentary elections next year, the two houses will vote for different MPs.

Jangpura is now a part of East Delhi parliamentary constituency, while Kasturba Nagar falls in New Delhi constituency.

A faulty streetlight in the back lane of her house was not repaired despite repeated attempts. The pole serves to two houses. “I kept calling the office of the municipal councillor to get it repaired but no one took interest. It is because the pole falls in one municipal ward, while my house is in a different ward,” she said.

Residents fear that officials responsible for maintenance and upkeep of the colony will pass the buck every time there is a civic issue in future.

“We are now perplexed who to approach with our problems and who is the person actually responsible for the maintenance of a particular service,” said S.L. Bhatnagar, resident of house number C-59.

“There will always be fight who will get the common stormwater drain cleaned or remove the garbage lying in the common area,” accepted a municipal official on condition of anonymity.