Lanes and ghats galore but no proper parking space, toilets
TOURISTS’ DELIGHT The area is famous for Banarasi sarees, traditional food, commercial and spiritual activities
VARANASI: Ghats, lanes and temples comprise quintessential Varanasi or Kashi and parking hassles and traffic jams complete the picture.
The Varanasi South assembly constituency lives up to this traditional image of the pilgrim city in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
The constituency is plagued by two basic problems – lack of proper parking spaces and public toilets in certain pockets.
“Look at the bikes parked haphazardly in the lane’s of Varanasi because of no proper parking facility here. This leads to traffic jams and it is difficult to walk through the lane,” complained Lalji Yadav, a trader in Thatheri Bazar lane.
He added there is not a single community toilet here and people have to walk around half a kilometre to reach one in Chowk area.
The lane is among the 743 lanes and 41 ghats in the constituency which is famous for Kashi Vishwanath Temple and Kaal Bhairav Temple.
Among the well known lanes are Vishwanath Gali, Kachauri Gali, Khowa Gali and Bulanala Gali.
Among the ghats, the famous ones are Dashashwamedh Ghat, Lalita Ghat, Benimadhava Ghat, Maan Mandir Ghat, Panchganga Ghat, Durga Ghat, Brahma Ghat and Rajghat.
The area is also hub of Banarasi sarees, traditional Banarasi food, commercial and spiritual activities and also a preferred destination for foreign tourists.
“Local politicians don’t address basic issues,” added Yadav. Chhote Lal, a gem trader in Nariyal Bazar area, also complained of these two problems. He, however, said locals were equally to blame for it. “No one wants to give space for making community toilets. The municipal body wants to construct community toilets and urinals, but it has not got space,” he said. He also lamented traffic jams in the area. Shekhar Rao, a CD shop owner, said: “Local traders relieve themselves in the open as there is no public toilet in the lane. Our requests for construction of toilet have fallen on deaf ears.”
In Dal Mandi area, bad roads and broken pipelines are a major issue.
The assembly constituency is represented by the Bharatiya Janata Party. Shyamdeo Roy Chaudhary, the sitting MLA, has won the seat in the last seven assembly elections. This time, the Bharatiya janata Party has denied him the ticket and fielded Neelkanth Tiwari. Congress leader Rajesh Mishra is Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance candidate.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has fielded Rakesh Tripathi.