Jaipur: Residents of Sultan Nagar colony, located along Kartarpura nallah, have threatened to boycott the upcoming local body elections, alleging that years of neglect of the drain have made daily life difficult and unsafe. The nallah is littered with large quantities of construction waste and other garbage, which residents say obstructs and slows the flow of water, while dense vegetation has grown unchecked along its slopes. Around 300 people have said that they will not participate in the upcoming elections.Residents said the overgrown stretch has also become a breeding ground for snakes, with reptiles frequently entering residential areas and raising concerns about the safety of children. Homes located lower down the slope can be reached only through narrow paths cutting through the dense vegetation, which residents say becomes particularly dangerous after dark. “It is extremely risky even for adults to venture out in the dark. There are no streetlights along the narrow path and the unchecked vegetation makes it difficult to see where one is walking,” said resident Sushmita Behera.Another resident, Sunita Gupta, said the colony had been troubled by the drain for years because of the stench and snakes emerging from it. She also said piles of garbage dumped along the nallah have caught fire on several occasions, creating additional risks for residents and causing accidents. Garima Meena, another resident, said that they themselves have been regularly cutting the grass and vegetation to create safe paths for people to walk through.The condition of the nallah comes at a time when Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) has proposed a major restoration and reconstruction project covering the stretch from Sawai Madhopur railway line to Shipra Path. A pre-bid meeting for a tender floated at around rupees 157 crore was held Tuesday. According to a JDA engineer, the final bid will be decided on Sept 18, after which development work will begin. The completion period of the project is 18 months.Residents, however, said they have heard promises of improvement for years and are now considering boycotting the local body elections to draw attention to the problems faced by the colony. They said the proposed project would need to address not just the drain’s expansion and construction but also the accumulated waste, unchecked vegetation, access paths and basic amenities such as lighting along the residential stretch.
