Shaheen Bagh residents seek revamp of amenities, improved law and order

Supporters taking videos of a public meeting addressed by AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi in Shaheen Bagh in the run-up to the Assembly election.
| Photo Credit: file photo

Five years after it made headlines during the last Assembly election for hosting a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), Shaheen Bagh is looking towards an overhaul of its civic infrastructure. Residents of the area, which falls in Okhla constituency, rue the lack of functional sewerage and modern schools and hospitals.

Shaheen Kauser, 46, an area resident, said, “The law and order situation here has deteriorated over the past 10 years. Moreover, work on many roads that were dug up months ago remains stalled, obstructing the movement of traffic on a daily basis.”

Tariq Nasir, 65, said the civic amenities in the area have not kept pace with the rising population. “Apart from the dirty streets and clogged sewers, encroachment is a major issue here. But nobody dares to speak about these problems,” he said.

Another resident, Falak Mohammad, complained about erratic water supply. “Since we don’t get regular water supply from the Delhi Jal Board, we are forced to make our own water arrangements, such as booking a water tanker or buying 20-litre water cans, which sell for ₹40, but are not suitable for consumption,” he added.

AAP’s Amanatullah Khan, who won the constituency in the 2015 and 2020 elections, is up against Congress’s Ariba Khan, AIMIM’s Shifa-ur-Rehman, and BJP’s Manish Chaudhary.