The Times of India 14.09.2010
Residents groups storm civic chief’s office over poor infrastructure
GURGAON: Irked by the lack of basic infrastructure in the city, hundreds of residents from various parts of Gurgaon protested outside Municipal Commissioner Rajesh Khullars office on Monday.
The residents, mostly comprising women, broke tubelights and flowerpots outside the office, while protesting against the municipal commissioner.
The municipal commissioner is a dishonest, shameless, useless and inefficient man, said Col (retd) Ratan Singh, chairman, Joint Action Forum of Residents Association (JAFRA), an umbrella body of citizen groups, who led the protest.
He added: Even though it was a peaceful demonstration, the residents are so annoyed with the municipal commissioner that they would have beaten him up had I not stopped them, The police had a tough time pacifying the agitated mob. Barricades were installed outside to keep the protestors away from the office premises. While they succeeded in foiling the residents plans of locking Khullar inside his office, they could not stop them from forcing him out of his office to listen to their woes.
We are sick and tired of the administration. It is just not doing anything. The roads are full of ditches, the sewage water is seeping into houses and there is garbage strewn all over the place. They are only looting the people. There is no accountability of funds and nobody seems to have an idea of where the money is going, said Singh.
He added, The protestors have threatened to intensify their stir if the administration does not improve things within a month. We met divisional commissioner T K Sharma and gave him a memorandum of our demands. He has promised to call a meeting of all department heads this week. We will block all roads and go on a hunger strike if our demands are not met.
Asked about the protest, Khullar said he has taken note of the residents complaints. On the poor water supply to Rajendra Park, he said the civic body has been in existence for only two years, so water pipes are not in place. We are laying down water pipes. The work will be completed only by next summer. Till then, water will be supplied through tankers, said Khullar.
