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| Where are the champions of Swachhta Abhiyan? | | Amarnath pilgrims struck in garbage and muck | |  Abodh Sharma
Early Times Report
Jammu, July 14: No very long ago, BJP leaders were falling over each other to ensure that they were not out of focus when Prime Minister's Swach Abhiyan was launched in Jammu along with rest of the country, but with Amarnath Yatra stopped due to inclement weather, the pilgrims are forced to stay not only under open sky, but also in open areas of the city which have been surrounded by garbage and filth and no one seems bothered.
The plight of the pilgrims who have to stay on in Jammu due to closure of the Jammu Srinagar highway is compounded as the pilgrims reaching Jammu in their buses or other vehicles have been asked to camp at places which are muddy, marshy and waterlogged. Many a buses have been asked to park in the parking lot on the Samadhian Road, which has been reduced into a pool of muck due to complete insanitation. "We do not know where to cook our food, it is difficult to even get down from the bus," said Rajinder Mishra, a pilgrim from Kanpur, camping at the flooded parking lot. "We have women and children with us and there is no toilet around and no place to cook our food" he said. "It is so stinky all around and there have been no attempt to restore sanitation" he added further. Some of the buses and vehicles parked in the MA Stadium are in slightly better state as place is not inundated and pilgrims can come out of the buses and sit under the shades of the trees.
The suspension of the Yatra in the last few days has woefully exposed the arrangements of the administration as they had no contingency plans to accommodate the additional pilgrims who were forced to stay on in Jammu due to closure of the highway. It has exposed the hypocrisy of the BJP leadership that failed to press in its rank and file to ensure that the devotees of Lord Shiva pouring into Jammu did not face such difficulties.
"We were hopeful of better arrangements for the pilgrimage as first time BJP had formed government in J&K, but things have rather changed for the worse" said Ashok Tanwar, a pilgrim from Delhi. "Even the voluntary social and religious organizations have done little to help the pilgrims who are struck in Jammu due to suspension of the yatra" he added.
Meanwhile, locals are condemning the NBCC for its inability to complete work on city's sanitation project that has prolonged endlessly. "There is no accountability and the entire city has been defaced due to poor roads and digging by the NBCC at a time when Yatra is on" said Rajeev Gupta, shopkeeper in Jewel area. " I think there is a conspiracy to project Jammu in poor light as lakhs of pilgrims coming to Jammu are talking of potholes and garbage all around" he added. |
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