Slums take sheen out of high-rises in Sector 54

Nothing can reflect the Millennium City's rich-poor divide like Sector-54. Amid swanky building touching the skies are rows and rows of grubby shanties.

Nothing can reflect the Millennium City's rich-poor divide like Sector-54. Amid swanky building touching the skies are rows and rows of grubby shanties.

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The air stinks of disease and poverty, people attend to nature's call out in the open, the broken roads are dotted with open kitchens and you never lose sight of the filth and garbage strewn around.

Just behind 'Summit' — a shining beautiful high-rise building — one can see the mushrooming slum area.

Residents complain that cases of theft and petty crime have increased ever since the coming up of the slums.

They rue that they can't even stand in their own balconies to get some fresh air as the entire area keeps stinking all the time. Morning walks are out of the question, they say.

"A few days back, an empty bottle of liquor was thrown at our building. We were shocked and scared as the bottle could have damaged the vehicles parked near the boundary walls," said Sudesh Pathak, a resident of the area.

The residents approached the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) and their complaint was registered on February 24.

However, nearly two months have passed since the complaint was registered, but nothing no action has been taken till now. Residents allege that when they heard about the complaint redressal forum of Huda, they were hopeful that things would improve. But they say they have been disappointed in the authority.

"Though I joined after February 24, it is definitely a serious issue that even after two months action has not been taken. I will look into the matter and will ensure that the problem is solved as soon as possible," said S.K.Gupta, executive engineer, Huda.

Further, residents complain that the area needs more traffic lights.

They say that a signal or traffic cops are needed at the point when they turn towards the sector while coming from Golf Course Road.

"This point has become an accident-prone area. Though the police department arranged a platform for cops to manage traffic, it is lying unused there," a resident says.

They say that despite their constant efforts to make the authorities listen to their pleas, nothing has yielded results as yet.