JMC claims fall flat as waterlogging woes return

Jaipur: As the city witnessed heavy pre-monsoon showers on Sunday morning, complaints about waterlogging came from many areas, indicating that Jaipur Municipal Corporation - Greater (JMC-Greater) is not prepared for the monsoon season.
Areas from where such complaints came included Jhotwara, Murlipura, Sanganer and Mansarovar. In Girdharipura Colony in Jhotwara, basements of many houses were filled with water after the rains. The area comes under ward 56, where councillor Radhey Shyam said that none of the JMC-Greater vehicles arrived to pump the water out because it was a Sunday. Harried residents used their own resources to set up motor pumps.
In Pancheywala, councillor Sukhpreet Bansal of ward 51 said no work promised by the corporation was being implemented. “We asked for a super suction, but it is yet to be provided. The entire ward has now been waterlogged,” he said.
In Murlipura zone, ward 10 councillor Narendra Singh Shekhawat, under whom Dadhich Nagar and Surya Nagar colonies come, said that tenders worth Rs 21 lakh were given for sewer cleaning in the entire zone. “This amount is not sufficient to clean the drains, and the cleaning process should have started earlier. As just two days of rains are turning our wards into swimming pools, imagine the condition in July,” he said.
JMC-Greater commissioner Mahendra Soni visited Mansarover and Malviya Nagar areas and admitted that there was waterlogging in the city. “There were waterlogging as expected in the monsoon, but our officials tackled them immediately. Any more problem, it will be taken care of soon,” he said.
Complaints of waterlogging were also reported in the walled city. In Johri market, Haldiyon ka Rasta, Chandi-ki-taksaal, Govind Devji Marg and several other areas were submerged. Rajat Vishnoi, councillor of ward 9 of JMC-Heritage, said people in Chandi-ki-Taksaal Marg faced lot of problems while commuting.
Former councillor Vikas Kohtari said all the sewer and drains in the walled city were overflowing as the JMC-Heritage was late to start the cleaning process.