Varanasi residents tie up councillor in flooded street

Agitated over the poor drainage system and waterlogging, people of Ambhiyamandi area in Varanasi seized a local councillor and forced him to sit in a flooded street for two hours before he was freed by the police.

Varanasi: Distraught over the poor drainage system and frequent water logging in their area, frustrated residents of Ambhiyamandi area in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi tied up a local councillor, and held him hostage for nearly two hours on Friday.

According to reports, villagers took this unprecedented step as they couldn't see any relief coming their way despite lodging complaints with the local administration.

The locals have alleged that although they have complained before the authorities about their problem a number of times, nobody is responding to their pleas.

After getting assurance of proper drainage system from the administration, councillor and the police, the locals freed him.

"We are facing severe hardship in daily life. Low-lying parts of the city, from where PM Modi has been elected, experienced waterlogging with the drains throwing up the waste dumped into the system. We are witnessing worst-ever water-logging problem this year with most of our locality areas remaining submerged till now," said a local, Hajiram Abdullah.

"We have tired of running to government offices frequently. But neither the local administration nor the political leaders responded to our pleadings in a favourable manner. As the district administration remained indifferent to our woes, we tied up the local councillor and held him hostage. He should understand our problems," he said.