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Residents of Sopan Apartment threaten to boycott UP polls
The residents of Sopan Apartment say despite repeated complaints, Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) has failed to clear the encroachments in the area
The residents of Sopan apartments on Sitapur road have pasted a banner outside their building gate announcing a boycott of the upcoming assembly elections.
The residents are protesting against the failure of the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) to get the approach road to their building cleared of encroachers.
Rupesh, a resident of Sopan apartment, said, “More than 800 residents have decided not to vote this time because of the encroachment on the approach road. The encroachers not only block the road but pose a threat to law and order. Due to the encroachments, our vehicles are not able to come in or out of the apartment building during the day. There have been instances when encroachers didn’t provide space for even ambulances carrying sick patients. Now, we are left with two options — to sell our apartment or fight for getting the approach road cleared.”
“Needless to say, that the residents have written several letters to LDA, District administration and police. The residents have also lodged complaints on several government portals, but there has been no action against the encroachers,” said Umashankar Dubey, president of Lucknow Jakalyan Mahasamiti, an umbrella organisation of more than 700 housing societies of Lucknow.
“Now, the residents feel that they have only one option to draw the attention of authorities towards the problem, that is to boycott the polls, which is very unfortunate,” Dubey added.
However, this has given political parties enough ammunition to target the government and LDA ahead of the high-stake Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.
Samajwadi Party spokesperson Ashutosh Varma said, “If this is the condition in Lucknow, then you can think what’s the condition in other parts of the state. The BJP government has been a failure on the civic front. Corruption has flourished in all the departments during the last five years.”
Congress spokesperson Mukesh Singh Chauhan said, “LDA has never bothered to solve the problems of residents. The local MLAs were not even accessible to the common man. The residents should vote against these politicians who have ditched them. They should vote for a candidate who is available for them 24X7.”
However, Neeraj Bora, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from the area where Sopan Enclave is situated, said, “BJP has always worked for the benefit of residents, I will try to contact the officials to solve the issue.”
Meanwhile, a higher official in LDA, on the condition of anonymity, said, “LDA has cleared the encroachments several times, but the encroachers keep on returning. Our officials will contact the residents soon.”
