Unkempt back lanes a nuisance for house owners in city

Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 13

Back lanes, which are otherwise a good facility, are becoming a nuisance for residents of the city.

Area residents have been complaining about poor upkeep of these service lanes. In some sectors, there are dedicated back lanes between rows of houses. However, garbage, horticultural waste and debris dumped there have spoiled these. The waste is dumped in service lanes and remains there for many weeks. Rain further compounds the problem for residents. Residents also rued that the lanes were becoming a breeding ground for mosquitoes and also causing foul smell making it tough for them to live.

While residents blamed the Municipal Corporation for not regularly cleaning the area, civic body officials ask residents to act responsibly and not dump waste in the back lanes.

Charu Jain, a resident of Sector 21, said, “In the back lane of her house, debris has been lying for many days. We have asked the MC to remove it or take action against the person who is dumping the debris. However, nothing has happened yet. MC workers don’t clean the area regularly.”

Waste was found dumped in Sectors 21, 22, 11 and 19.

Hitesh Puri, chairman, CRAWFED, said, “We have been getting complaints from RWAs of Sectors 19 and 21 that back lanes are in a miserable state. Though there are two gates on both sides of the lanes, these are never opened for cleaning. Several months would pass before MC workers come to clean the area. If the MC fails to take care of these lanes, it should allow their maintenance by the house owners concerned.”

MC Medical Officer of Health Dr Amrit Warring said, “We are getting these back lanes cleaned every week. We have recently formed a team of 25 staff members for the purpose. I would urge residents not to throw waste here or we will have to start a challaning drive.”

Passing the buck

While residents blame the Municipal Corporation for not regularly cleaning the area, civic body officials ask residents to act responsibly and not dump waste in the back lanes.

About the lanes

The back lanes in certain sectors are called service lanes as sewerage and water pipelines are laid there. If any repair work is to be done, workers can enter the house from the rear side and carry out the job.