Humayunpur residents say sanitation & other services more important, dread updating docs
New Delhi: Even as the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) prepares to rename Humayunpur village in Safdarjung Enclave, to Hanumanpur, in an attempt to what BJP councillors have called acceding to residents' request, locals in the south Delhi village whom Millennium Post
spoke to, have said they either did not know of the name change proposal at all or did not think this was a priority for them, especially in light of problems that they currently need their municipal leaders to work on.
Populated by middle and lower middle class families, the village is a small settlement in south central Delhi, dominated by Jat families but has quickly become a place for
migrants from north-east India to call home away from home. And while roads in the area seem to be in good condition, requiring maintenance, residents complained that MCD authorities did not clean parks and maintain them regularly enough.
Millennium Post also found several areas where garbage bins outside parks in the area were overflowing with garbage. And even as the residents sought that the basic civic duties be fulfilled by the authorities, many others worried about the hassle to get important identity documents updated.
Preeti, a 23-year-old who has lived in Humayunpur all her life, and hadn't heard about the name change, said, "Why are they changing it (name) now? It's been like this for generations but how does it change anything now".
Sangh Priye Gautam, another resident of the area said, "I have parents who are sick, they can't wait in long lines to change their documents. The online system is barely functional. Why should we have to face the consequences of this change?" He added that if government officials get the
documents updated in a doorstep service, he would be okay with it.
When asked about this issue, South Delhi mayor Mukesh Suryan insisted, "No such problems will come up." And when asked about the resident's concerns about park maintenance and other civic issues, Suryan claimed that these works were the Delhi government's responsibility.
Some of the residents and business owners also pointed out that as long as there is proper development within the area, they will happily go along with the name change. But the possibility of that is extremely low. Anil Kumar, a resident and general store owner of the area for over 30 years, said that "If they change the name, there needs to be work done as well without that it's useless".
While many are either completely against the change or have no opinion towards it, some residents supported the action too. Ishwar Singh, resident, and the general store owner said that they are only changing the name to protect our 'Indian legacy'.
Another shop owner said, "BJP is doing the best they can. They must have done it for a reason."
Humayunpur village is in ward number 61, Safdarjung Enclave, and is categorised as an urban village under the SDMC jurisdiction. The area's councillor, BJP's Radhika Abrol had tabled this proposal soon after Suryan gave "anticipatory" approval to changing Mohmmadpur's name to Madhavpuram.
