Heard at Okhla: No development in last five years, area never in focus

Among Delhi’s 1,082 government schools, only five are in Okhla. While according to residents these schools are functioning satisfactorily, their primary concern lies elsewhere – healthcare.

Mohalla clinics, once hailed as a game-changer by the AAP government, remain mostly shut, the residents said. Government hospitals are non-existent, while private facilities charge exorbitant fees.

In the heart of 40-Futta Road, Shabana Kazmi, a volunteer for Bharti Eye Hospital, walks through the bustling market, carrying a speaker to announce: “6 February, from 12 pm, Bharti Eye Hospital will hold a free eye check-up camp.”

Mohd Nadeem, a passerby, stops to inquire about the camp. “There are no government hospitals here. We have to go to Al-Shifa Hospital, but it is extremely expensive. The roads are always lined with garbage. No development has taken place in the last five years,” he says.

In Batla House, narrow lanes gives way to a tangled web of overhead wires, some sagging dangerously close to the ground. But the most perilous location remains Abu Fazal Enclave’s “high-tension road”, where electricity supply lines loom over residential buildings, making every rooftop a hazard zone.

In April 2016, a 22-year-old migrant labourer lost his life after accidentally touching a 220 kV line. Mohammad Tasleem, who runs a garment cart in the area, says, “Incidents like this keep happening every six months.”

The dangers are not just hypothetical. Two years ago, a devastating fire broke out when a high-voltage wire exploded, burning down Kamal Hasan’s electronics shop. “The material damage we suffered was devastating. All my electronic items were charred, and I had to rebuild my shop from scratch. In the house next door, a family lost their two children due to the blast,” he recalls.

Fareed Ahmad Narvi of Zakir Nagar sums up their collective frustration: “This area was never in focus. It is facing several issues — roads have not been laid, there’s no cleanliness. A lane behind the Zakir Nagar main road could not be constructed in 10 years. There’s sewerage issue too.”

Sewage issues stretch across Okhla, as seen in Shaheen Bagh market, where a massive sewage pumping vehicle has stood motionless for the past seven months. It merely shifts sewage from one pothole to another, creating an endless cycle of stagnation.

Rashid Fareed, who runs a paan shop in between the two potholes, says, “They pump water from one pothole to another and then back. This vehicle has been standing here for seven months, The sewage lines need to be laid down properly. This has been a long-standing demand, but nothing ever happens.”

“When we come to our balcony, this is the sight that we are greeted with,” says Shahid Alam, who lives in Jasola High, pointing to the drain lined with garbage on one end and weed overgrowth on another.

“Though there are no parks for the children to play, but the first thing that needs to be improved are the roads… the sewage and the garbage situation… There is a long way to go before this happens,” he adds.