Tilak Nagar situated along Amravati Road is one of the plush and serene areas of the city. Of late, however, the area is losing its charm, thanks to apathy of the local administration and elected representatives, allege the residents living here. For the residents, the area has now nearly lost its old feel though not much has changed. The hurly-burly of urban lifestyle is giving nightmares to locals. On entering Tilak Nagar from West High Court Road, the round-about in front of Lokmanya Tilak’s statue once housed a fountain that is now out of order and unattended. A laundry owner, who runs his business nearby, now uses this fountain place to dry towels and has tied several feet long ropes on the footpaths to dry the clothes. So, right from entry to the locality one can gauge what lays in store as the small by-lanes in the area are full of problems. Nagar’s charm Once, the Tilak Nagar ground used to a prominent landmark as several sports events were hosted here. But today, the prominent ground has a different scenario to present with administration taking no ownership for keeping it neat and clean.

 

The ground is occupied by cattle during the day time while compound railings are damaged. The residents told ‘The Hitavada’ that several children and dogs were injured in an attempt to get into the ground by crossing over in easy way. College students from nearby institutions throng the place to celebrate birthdays and spill cake and snacks all over the public place during the celebration. The left over and garbage is just dumped there leaving the residents to fend for themselves. One of the rooms located at one of the corners of the grounds is now converted into dumping ground and lavatory for passers-by which is another big problem. The entire area stinks and whoever passes that area feels sorry for the denizens residing in such surroundings. A resident Kapil Kalra said, condition of roads in the area is also not taken care of for years together. During the rainy season, water remains stagnant and a pool gets formed. Water gets accumulated after the drains are choked as same have not been cleared since ages. Paver blocks were affixed in the area, but that work is also left incomplete. Time and again we contacted the corporators, but they ignored the issue and gave excuse of paucity of funds, he added.

 

The Tilak Nagar area also houses some corporate establishments and this commercialisatuion of the area is creating problem aplenty for the residents. Commercial activities are now thriving in the area creating parking mess as authorities concerned have blindly provided occupation certificate to the commercial estiblishments that do not have sufficient parking space. One of the buildings here hosts a prominent coaching centre and though there is a basement parking, it remains unutilised and people use the narrow road in colony to park their two and four-wheelers obstructing smooth flow of traffic. Prakash Warade, Assistant Commissioner, Dharampeth Zone No 2, Nagpur Municipal Corporation, stated, “As per my knowledge, we maintain and address all cleanliness issues in the area. The complaints about other problems in the area have not been received at my end, he added. 7590: Bad roads and gravels posing a threat to the residents of Tilak Nagar 7605: Damaged wall compound and railings of Tilak Nagar have caused injuries to children and dogs