Water enters shops in Paltan Bazaar, shopkeepers blame inefficient Smart City works
Friday, 23 June 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
A couple of hours of rain on Thursday damaged the goods in several shops in the Paltan Bazaar area and shopkeepers claimed it was due to the inefficient work of officials handling the Smart City project. They claimed that the officials concerned spent crores of rupees on these works that could not stand a few hours of rain. This clearly shows that the departments concerned have wasted government money, the shopkeepers opined. One of the shopkeepers said, “It was the first proper rain of the season and water entered our shops and damaged our goods. Who will compensate us for this? We are tired of these Smart City works that cause trouble rather than doing anything good.”
Shopkeeper Harsh Sethi also claimed that the officials concerned have recently put heavy slabs over the drains without cleaning them properly due to which, drains started overflowing. He said that after the water started entering their shops, nearby shopkeepers themselves lifted the slabs in the rain and cleaned the drains to remove the garbage after which the water started running smoothly. They also observed that the electric wires laid as part of the Smart City works via drains were also allegedly blocking the flow of water, claimed Sethi.
The shopkeepers said that they never had to face such troubles when they had only four feet wide drains and the officials have made the situation worse with their ‘smart works’ in the area. “What is the use of building such a smart city which is only harming us, our business and citizens,” said a shopkeeper. The president of Doon Valley Mahanagar Udyog Vyapar Mandal (DVMUVM) Pankaj Masson also reached the area receiving information about the damages. He said that he immediately contacted respective officials including the municipal commissioner, district administration and Rajpur Road MLA Khajan Das to make them aware of the severity of the situation.
He said, “I told them that there is a gap of six inches between the slab and the shutter due to which water is entering the shops. I said that as long as the water from the drainage of Rajpur continues to flow towards the Paltan Bazaar, this situation will not be resolved. They have assured that they will take cognisance of it.” He said that he has also asked the officials to compensate for the loss caused to the shopkeepers and they have assured him to take a decision on it soon.
