SNS seeks shifting of PM rally from Ridge ground to Annadale

Seeking the shifting of Prime Minister May 31 rally from Ridge ground to Annadale , Shimla Nagrik Sabha said today that due to safety of Ridge Water Tank and increasing crowd in the tourist season it is not in public interest to hold this rally on the historic Ridge ground. Shimla Nagrik Sabha in a press statement issued today hailed  the proposed visit of Prime Minister to Shimla stating it in the interest of new development projects for Shimla city ” The government has planned to hold a mammoth rally during PM visit  in such a situation, the SNS requests the government and the Prime Minister’s Office that keeping in mind the public interest and the objective situation of today, the venue of the rally should be changed from Ridge Maidan to Anadale Maidan so that the residents of Shimla get the least inconvenience during this journey.  And the safety of the ridge tank should also be taken care of. Now only one week is left for the Prime Minister’s rally to be held on May 31, 2022, but due to the work being done by the government and administration for the preparation of this rally for the last few days, many inconveniences are caused to the public. Town is facing the problem of long traffic jams daily as normal journey inside city of 10 to 15 minutes,  taking one to 2 hours.  Due to which the problems of school going children, employees and people going to work regularly have increased in the city.  Simultaneously, as the timing of the rally approaches, barricading would increase in the roads and the problems of the public as well as the tourists would increase further.  this would affect the tourism business which was going through the crisis for a long time already. Along with this, there is a problem of drinking water in the city for a long time, but now due to the proposed visit of the Prime Minister, the same water is also being used in the cleanliness of the city, due to which the drinking water crisis is getting worse and now the city  Drinking water supply is not being done regularly and except one day drinking water is being supplied.  In many areas, drinking water is being supplied after 4 to 6 days.  This has increased the suffering of the people even more. The Ridge Maidan is a historical heritage and a tank built more than 100 years ago under it supplies drinking water to more than 40 percent areas of the city.  In the year 2016, the erstwhile Municipal Corporation had noticed cracks in a part of it and made a plan to take proper action immediately to repair it.  Keeping this in mind, the Deputy Mayor of the former Municipal Corporation had written a letter to the Prime Minister’s Office in the year 2017 also requesting for the proposed rally on the Prime Minister’s Ridge and not to rally at this place but to hold a rally at another place.  In the year 2020, the cracks in the tank had increased further and after that it has also been repaired to some extent.  In such a situation, gathering of thousands of people on it can create more danger for it. Keeping in view the public sentiments and inconvenience expected to caused to the public by this rally and  security of Ridge Ground and Tank, the venue of this rally should be changed from Ridge Maidan to Anadale Ground, SNS added.