Sahib turns traffic-stopper: Park, approach road clogged

It is a small price to pay for uninterrupted power supply and abundant water supply, they say, apart from enhanced security. Says Sanjay Dhingra, proprietor, Janata Store, which lies behind Singh’s house: “The roads are more congested. For the first few days after he shifted people could not even sleep at night for the glare of harsh lights and screams of raving supporters continued till wee hours of the morning. But then as the news of his ouster sank in, people did not give vent to their emotions verbally and just sit there to express their solidarity.”

Dhingra’s neighbour Prem Prakash, however, is less strident: “Sahib Singh’s upporters are here as long as television cameras are here. Once they leave, we will have peace.” Though most residents feel that it is a matter of time before Singh moves to a government house (he is tipped to become a Union minister), Prakash wants the severe sewer problem solved before the ex-CM moves.

“Actually, all through his days as the chief minister of Delhi he did nothing for us. In fact, he seldom came to Shalimar Bagh. Now that he has come, many problems are being created for the residents. But if he could get the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to sort out the sewer problem, all will be forgiven,” Prakash adds.

“His supporters eat in the park, drink in the park and when they go, they litter the place. The sweepers come several times and clean up the park but not its surroundings. It, however, does not resemble a park any more. It is like a perpetual mela on all the time,” says Prabha Devi, a resident of the DDA colony.

The Rohini wing of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has promptly stationed a water tanker just outside the colony gates for the supporters to drink water and that too leaves a muddy mess.

“It is a narrow road. A part of it is occupied by the tanker and the large number of vehicles of his visitors. Another part of the road is blocked because of repair work in the main sewer line. That actually leaves very little room for movement of our cars. We have adjusted out timings in such a way that we give at least 10 minutes to negotiate just a single turn to get out of the colony and get to the main road,” says another requesting anonymity.

Little children are more vocal. “Security personnel and Sahib Singh supporters keep shooing us away. This is not fair,” says Vishal, a class V student. “We even have Meera Aggarwal, deputy mayor, living here but then that does not create so many problems,” chips in Anuj, his friend.

Though Singh himself was not at home, his security personnel said that they were trying to be as unobtrusive as possible.