SHIMLA:  Over 45 flats of HIMUDA Colony in Sector 5 New Shimla,  a place that should provide comfort and safety to its residents, have become breeding ground for misery that no one seems to care about.

HIMUDA  colony, houses not only private flat owners but also institutions like BSNL, NABARD, AG, HPSIDB, HP Finance Corporation, Excise, and Income Tax, which  have  acquired many blocks for accommodating their staff.  

But they have left these flats to rot. As many as 45 flats have turned into refuge  for  ghosts as nobody knows who owns them, informed local councillor, Ram Ratan Verma, who have taken the matter with the Chief Minister for suitable action.

With their broken windows the shattered doors, the weeded gates and entrances, these flats now haunt the residents who  live in their immediate neighbouring flats.    

Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena had a review meeting today  and advocated the model building rules in both rural and urban areas of the state. What action the government will take against HIMUDA, its own agency for flouting rules and not caring about the safety of its clients, who paid the earnings of their lifetime to buy the homes from HIMUDA.

Walking through these decaying corridors of the flats is like stepping into a nightmare. There are no gutters, no drains to guide rainwater away, turning even the slightest downpour into a potential disaster.

While the top flats are being maintained by their owners or tenants, but the low income flats located in lower hillside,  once standing with a promise of a better life, have now become a haven for the shadows of society.

Drug addicts have found solace in these crumbling walls, a place to sink deeper into their addiction, casting a shadow of danger over the entire area.

The women who once walked these alleys with dreams in their eyes now navigate through weeds and stench, their sense of security shattered.

“We are scared now. We faced two landslides from the pollution board’s office side and we find drug addicts frequent in these abandoned flats as we have not seen any one taking care of them”, rued housewives of the neighbouring flats.  

What was meant to be a home for families has become a playground for danger, with children left vulnerable to the lurking threats. “Due to lack of drains and utter neglect, foundation of the flats is in danger, said  flat owners, who live in Block no 24-26.  

Amidst this despair, the Pollution Control Board’s  building- a pollution regulator- also stands as a grotesque monument to negligence.

Lately its front face has been renovated with glitzy lights, but it is just a façade.

Its surroundings reek of decay, the lack of proper drainage and gutters contributing to an environment that is both unlivable and unsightly. Its crumbling retaining  wall collapsed that led to landslide threatening residents of Blocks living  on the lower hillside of the Board’s building.  ī

It's a haunting reminder that even those responsible for overseeing these matters have themselves fallen victim to the disregard that plagues this colony.

The laws are clear, the Himachal Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act, 1994, outlining the steps needed to ensure proper drainage and sewage disposal.

 But it's not enough to have laws; they must be enforced.

The state of HIMUDA Colony, Sector 5, Kagnadhar, isn't just a story of neglect; it's a call to arms. It was due to efforts put by the councillor that weeds amd outgrowth was pruned that made the access to the flats less scary.

But the question remains: Will Himuda takes call and redeem the miseries of those flat owners who live here permanently or it will let the flats rot?

The residents  deserve far better.