It’s that time of the year again when residents of Shela brace for bumpy rides on potholed roads with a prayer on their lips. For at least two years now, the roads here have been in a miserable condition and all requests for repairs have fallen on deaf ears.
Located along the SP Ring Road, Shela is witnessing a real estate boom with around 200 residential projects in progress. The houses here are in the range of Rs 30 lakh to Rs 6 crore but the poor civic amenities have left the residents feeling betrayed.
They allege that AUDA’s engineering department is hand in glove with the road contractors and has been sheltering them. Since the damaged roads don’t get repaired on time by these contractors, the rains only compound the woes of the residents.
Shela resident Shruti Kushwah insists it is AUDA’s responsibility to ensure that basic amenities like roads and streetlights are provided.
“However, we have been struggling with bad roads and no street lights among others for the past many years.”
She added, “Driving with patients, elderly people or children in the car is not safe as it feels like a roller-coaster ride. It can hurt them. Besides, such rough roads cause the vehicles to experience more wear and tear and we end up bearing the repair costs, too.”
Agreeing with her, Khushbu Soni, a resident of a high-end bungalow scheme in Shela said, “As long as we are inside the township or the gated community, things are fine. But when we venture out on the roads in our vehicles, it feels like we are driving through hell.”