JAMMU : Located in the heart of Jammu Smart City opposite Hari Singh Park and adjoining a local newspaper office, the vast parking facility constructed few years ago by the Jammu Development Authority (JDA) now become a breeding ground for an epidemic, immoral activities and drug addiction.
Fallen into a state of utter neglect due to faulty designing of the project costing several crores followed by official apathy, this huge parking facility now serves as nothing more than a breeding ground for mosquitoes and diseases like malaria, dengue and jaundice besides anti social activities, leaving inhabitants of the surrounding localities disappointed.
With transformation of a vast ground into a swimming pool with floating trash and heaps of garbage, this so called parking space is an instant recipe for breakout of dengue in Jammu city. Not only health hazard and space for anti social activities, this unfit parking space of JDA also contributing to a major traffic chaos on both side of roads outside Hari Singh Park.
There is huge rush of visitors to Hari Singh Park who have no option other than to park their vehicles haphazardly on both sides of roads outside the park due to mess prevailing inside the designated parking space. This results in frequent traffic snarls outside the park, said an officer of Traffic Police. The JDA is the main villain behind this traffic chaos, he added.
Ironically, in the heart of Jammu city which is being facelifted under Smart City project, this parking space of JDA have become a epicenter of health hazard and anti social activities which needs urgent attention of the district administration.
The pole lights are rendered dysfunctional due to utter neglect and apathetic attitude of JDA authorities and with sunset this parking space turns into hot bed of immoral activities and drug addiction, reveals police officer posted in District Special Branch, who wished not to be named.
Interacting with JK Global News, several locals of the area told “During day time, this area predominantly remain in possession of illegal immigrants who apart from spreading filth are responsible for polluting the surrounding environment through open defecation in the area”.
Lamenting presence of heaps of garbage and water stagnation, a local of the area said, “It is disheartening to see that both JDA as well as Jammu Municipal Corporation have turned a blind eyes towards the deterioration of the parking”. Water logging has defeated the purpose for which it was constructed after spending crores of rupees. This is a matter of thorough probe to fix responsibility on those involved in the planning, execution and supervision of this useless project, demanded the locals.
Pankaj Sharma, VC JDA, while clarifying on the issue said ” We have initiated the exercise for structural alignment of the parking space to end problem of water logging in the parking space. It will be taken up on priority once the Model Code of Conduct is lifted”.
On being contacted, Devansh Yadav, Commisioner JMC said, “Ensuring sanitation in nook and corner of the JMC jurisdiction is our prime priority and if there is any gap in it he will enquire into the matter for appropriate action”.