Come October 2 and prime minister Narendra Modi will kick start one of his most ambitious projects to clean up the entire country. However, as it generally happens while the focus remains on cleaning the entire country, the BR Camp, located on the Race Course Road across the prime minister's residence, continues to be a picture of utter neglect.
With its over 460 houses, BR Camp has a population of nearly 4,500 people, who live without a proper sewage disposal system and improper garbage disposal mechanism.
At the entrance into the area is the newly-built garbage dump where heaps of garbage lies unattended for days together. "Till a few months back it used to be an open area. We have now got a wall constructed around it so that the garbage is no longer at least visible to us," said Ramesh Kumar, the president of BR Camp. While the garbage not only triggers an unbearable stench but also act as a breeding ground for the mosquitoes. Needless to say, it is as an ideal recipie for all sorts of health hazards.Visists by the New Delhi Municipal Council staff to clear the garbage are far and between.
While those who can afford to, have got the portion of drains near their homes covered, others continue to battle with the open drainage. "It is a complete no-go zone for the NDMC staff. No one ever bothers to come for fogging. They just spray some medcines at the entrace of the place while mosquitoes continue to breed elsewhere," said Sunil, a resident.
In 1976, when Indira Gandhi's government shifted all the slums to the outskirts of the city, BR Camp was not touched. It was then thought that removing the settlement would deprive the Race Course Road of the caretakers and other staff to manage the area. "We were then promised that all our needs will be fulfilled and the place would be made livable. But nothing happened. Today, we are even deprived of the right to bring in building material if we have to repair our houses," lamented a resident.
While being in the vicinity of the prime minister's residence and the Race Course ensures a round-the-clock power supply to the area, they feel their area should be given a special slum status.
"We have heard that the prime minister is kickstarting a cleaning drive. We are his neighbours, we hope we will get some attention," hoped Vimla Devi, another resident.
But all is not that bad in the prime minister's neighborhood. To the behind side of the Race Course Road, on the Teen Murti Lane is another slum of 10 houses. The resident of the colony that houses mostly gardeners and other category four employees are particular about the cleaniless their area. "We just don't clean our houses, but also the courtyards and the lanes. Every house does its bit and the colony remains clean," said Chanda Devi. "It is an underlined rule in the neighborhood that nobody is allowed to dump garbage outside the house and ensure that the garbage goes into the garbage collection site a few paces away," added Lakshmi Devi another resident.
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