LAHORE: Increasing civic issues in the Barki Road area are not only irritating the residents, but also exposing negligence on the part of those supposed to solve the issues.

Residents say the area is being ignored in terms of cleanliness, encroachment, sewerage/drainage, lighting, infrastructure development etc.

“I have never seen any development here in the last two years except some patchwork carried out a couple of months ago after residents lodged several complaints,” Ausat, a resident of a locality on Barki Road told Dawn.

“The area has been encroached upon by shopkeepers, huge solid waste has piled up on various spots along the road and other issues,” he deplored.

Kashif Saeed, another resident of the same locality, was of the view that the sewerage system seemed to be out of order, as large quantity of rainwater or sewage accumulates on the road every now and then.

“Sometimes it becomes difficult to access this road during rainy season. But, regardless of the rain, the sewerage system remains choked,” he lamented.

Amir, another resident, said shopkeepers had encroached upon almost the entire space along the road by placing gas cylinders, water tanks and other items.

According to a spokesman for the Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC), 95 per cent of the Barki Road area that mostly consists of housing societies is not under their jurisdiction.

“There are various societies where we provide waste collection services on payment. Some carry out these tasks on their own,” he said, adding the Cantonment board is supposed to perform such jobs.

Talking to Dawn, an official of the Lahore Metropolitan Corporation said the area fell under their jurisdiction.

“It is our area that is dealt with by the Aziz Bhatti town municipal or zonal administration. The issues related to encroachment, streetlights etc are resolved by us,” he clarified.

Metropolitan Corporation Chief Officer Ali Abbas, however, said they are only dealing with encroachments and streetlights on this road.

“This road belongs to the communication and works department and not us. But removing encroachments is our responsibility, which we are carrying out. We have also restored streetlights on a portion of this road. We also help the cantonment board in resolving other civic issues,” he explained.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2020