JOIN USMandya: This pourakarmika colony lacks basic amenities
The pourakarmikas who set into motion armed with broomsticks to keep the whole city clean from the break of dawn are forced to live in a pathetic condition.
The condition is almost same at all the pourakarmikas’ colony and the one in Mandya is no different as the area lack basic amenities. The kachcha roads, stagnated open drains that emanate stench, kids playing nearby and mothers feeding their young ones, this is the view of the pourakarmika colony in Nehrunagar.
The area has seven streets comprising more than 300 families. Only a few houses have toilet facility and others have no other choice but to search for an open field to attend to the nature’s call.
The irregular water supply to the area has also added to their woes.
Velu, Vijay and Mahadevu, residents of the colony lamented that though they strive to keep the city and the environs clean there are no proper basic amenities in their colony. The drains have clogged and have even damaged and no steps have been taken so far. The roads have worn out and the maintenance of streetlights too are very poor.
The wires of the transformers have loosened and are in the reach of the kids inviting danger. There is no fence erected around them and the residents are living under constant fear.
There is an anganwadi centre for the children of the colony adjacent to the open drain. Food is being prepared at the same premises and the children are fed and educated amid the stench. Slum dwellers association secretary Siddaraju said though memoranda have been submitted to city municipal council several times, no step has been taken so far to rectify the problem. Their demands include to expedite the construction works of the new anganwadi building, cover open drains with stone slabs and other basic amenities.
The pourakarmikas with their families are living under the condition with the hope that the local administration will respond to their problems.