“Cleanliness is next to Godliness”- this quote however apparently doesn’t sit with the market associations, elected representatives or the civic authorities attached to CR Park.
The markets are dirty to the extent that it has become a nightmare for the residents to visit them. A very hurried and most unsatisfactory job done by MCD is all that happens every morning. A persistent stink pervades the entire atmosphere of the markets all the time.
Evenings see all the markets
choked to the brim with food stall blocking every walkable path, leaving
virtually no space to walk without tripping over garbage, buckets, dustbins,
and other paraphernalia of the encroachers. Aside them, the shops have
literally spilled over on the walkways with their wares stashed in tall metal
racks, sacks of grains, and huge plastic baskets merrily stacked over by the
shopkeepers.
Evenings are buzzing with
eaters, tea drinkers and smokers throwing numerous tea cups, food plates,
cigarette stubs all over the walkways.
With not a single plant or
tree around the markets, a dirty, dreary stinking environment meets the tired
eyes and chokes the nose to the extent, that one dreads going to the markets.
A barren, rodent infested,
raised platform, in the centre of Market 2, so-called “harit kshetra” or green
expanse(God alone knows, where the green is seen), through a dilapidated board
put up by MCD, paints a miserable and scary picture, with a health disaster
ticking time bomb wating to explode any moment.
Cops and MCD officials merrily
and unabashedly come and go as visitors and “hafta” extractors every week,
without so much as a bother for the health, hygiene, safety and welfare of the
residents. And then if any resident of the colony raises a voice, then the cops
promptly remove the person from the security whatsapp group managed by the
colony police station. The elected representative could not be bothered less
about what is happening with the markets of the colony.
The shopkeepers are more than
happy to gladly oblige the elected representatives with garlands, sweets when
they come to seek votes. And oblige the cops and MCD with “hafta” every week,
and calmly continue with their rampant encroachments. They spend thousands
paying “hafta” the civic authorities, but do not want to spend a penny on
collecting funds and cleaning the markets. They stay in the markets the whole
day, but still do not bother to make it a bit more habitable.
It is a dreadful thought,
that, if this situation continues for long, many people will be compelled to
completely switch over online shops and completely stop giving business to the
local markets, for fear of catching a health issue. Or simply leave the colony
for cleaner places to live.
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