Residents of Ranchi’s posh locality vow to go for NOTA

Ranchi: Irked over the pathetic condition of civic amenities in their locality and continuing government apathy towards their issue, more than 500 families residing in PP Compound, a posh residential area in the state capital, on Thursday vowed to press the NOTA button on EVMs when Ranchi goes to the polls on May 6.
Assembled under the banner of PP Compound Welfare Society, the residents of this area put up several banners and posters announcing the same on Wednesday night. They said this was their last resort to flag their concerns.

Society president Anjali Jain said: “Respecting the democratic process, we have resolved to press the NOTA button. We will reconsider if political parties and candidates give a written undertaking to solve these issues in a time-bound manner. If they fail, we will approach the court to hold them accountable,” she said.

She added: “Lack of garbage management, chaotic parking causing traffic jams, utilization of parking space by commercial establishments, the menace of vendor, inadequate street lights, overflowing drains are among the glaring issues we have been living with for years. We want a solution to these problems.”

Jain said the society has written to the district administration, Ranchi Municipal Corporation and local public representatives several times since 2017, but nothing has been to resolve these issues. “The situation is so bad that many people are leaving this colony. But the question is why do we shift base? Aren’t these genuine demands of any resident in any city?” she questioned.

Another resident, unwilling to be named, raised concerns of poor law and order situation and rising instances of theft and snatching. “In 2017, we gave a memorandum to the district police chief after which patrolling was initiated. But that too is erratic. Patrolling is intensified after an untoward incident occurs, but it is discontinues soon after. Why does one have to wait for an incident to happen at the first place?,” he said.

Subodh Sharma, another resident and a businessman, maintained that though several plans — including a flyover at Sujata Chowk (near PP Compound) to underground cabling, door-to-door collection of garbage — were announced in the past, they just get lost in the bureaucratic tangle.

“Door-to-door garbage collection is virtually non-existent in our area. As far as other projects are concerned, crores were spent making detailed project reports by successive governments, but they are yet to materialize on the ground,” he said.

The residential society have also threatened to boycott the assembly elections later this year if their problems are not resolved.