Indore's toniest neighbourhoods reel under rains, garbage

Roads in Anoop Nagar, Srinagar Main and Srinagar Extension remain filled with water for days after a heavy downpour due to inefficient drainage making it nearly impossible for residents to walk.

Forget about slums or poverty pockets, some of the city's toniest neighbourhoods including Old Palasia and Manoramaganj have been left reeling by the twin assault of monsoon rains and uncollected garbage.

Roads in Anoop Nagar, Srinagar Main and Srinagar Extension remain filled with water for days after a heavy downpour due to inefficient drainage making it nearly impossible for residents to walk.

In localities where rainwater does drain off, it leaves in its wake a muddy, sludgy substance and piles of rotting garbage which gives off a smell strong enough to knock one out.

Says Deepa Vanjani, head of languages department at Holkar Science College who stays at Jaora Towers, "Large piles of garbage lie scattered at an open ground near our apartment. Cows and pigs forage among the rubbish all day. The stink is so bad that I specifically ask my guests to take a route that would help them avoid the garbage, the cattle, the pigs."

Experts say that door-to-door waste collection is the only way to ensure proper sanitation. Although the IMC has sanctioned money for this in the current and previous budgets, it is yet to begin the tendering process.

What some residents say
Yash Chaudhary, self employed
The city gets awfully dirty during this season as water collects everywhere and the garbage gets wet. This increases the spread of diseases like malaria. You have to take so many precautions before stepping out of home, to protect yourself from bad odor (caused by wet garbage), mosquitoes, flies, mud, potholes, etc.

Aayushi Dubey, student
Walking on the streets has become impossible these days, looking at the muddy-water filled roads. You can't even go out to parks in the evening for walks, fearing mosquitoes or insects that pop up during rainy season. Hearing about the diseases that are spreading every day, it is safer to stay at home. People should really consider cleanliness and stop littering residential areas, public places, roads, etc, as they are giving rise to many such problems day by day.