Rajendra Nagar battles shoddy civic conditions

Seven years after the Rajendra Nagar municipality merged with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), bad civic conditions and drinking water scarcity continue to dog residents here. The only uniform development activity witnessed in the area – a sardonic mix of posh colonies and slums – are roads and storm water lines, laid with funds granted under various development programmes in the last few years.

Sewage continues to flow into the Mir Alm Tank, thereby polluting the waters.

Seven years after the Rajendra Nagar municipality merged with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), bad civic conditions and drinking water scarcity continue to dog residents here.

The only uniform development activity witnessed in the area – a sardonic mix of posh colonies and slums – are roads and storm water lines, laid with funds granted under various development programmes in the last few years. However, the area lags behind when it comes to street lighting and garbage clearance, the latter resulting in the presence of stray dogs and pigs in huge numbers. This apart, the Water Board (HMWSSB) has failed to address long-pending demands for drinking water, forcing people to depend on tankers.

The Rajendra Nagar circle comprises four municipal divisions – Attapur, Shivrampally, Mylardevpally and Rajendra Nagar – with a total electorate of about 1.5 lakh.

Many localities in Gaganpahad, Katedan, Shastripuram, Mylardevpally, Hassan Nagar and Budvel are bereft of a dedicated sewerage line. People therefore have to depend on septic tanks, or they let out waste to the storm water lines.

In fact, household waste discharge from many neighbourhoods in Hassan Nagar is released into the nearby Mir Alam Tank. People in many colonies – except where colony welfare associations ensure door-to-door clearance of garbage – are forced to live in unhygienic conditions.

A few pockets in Laxmiguda, Hassan Nagar, Budvel, Suleiman Nagar, Mir Momin Pahadi, and Hyderguda are the worst-hit.

“At no point of time are efforts made to clear garbage. We just set the trash on fire and dispose it off,” says Hassan Nagar resident Syed Feroz. Ill-lit road stretches are also a point of worry for people in many colonies. “We have time and again requested the authorities to take up street lighting, but they are taking their own time,” complains Abdul Jilani, a resident of Kings Colony, Shastripuram. The situation is no different on the Katedan road under bridge, which forms a part of the inner road.

However, local corporators claim many development works are in the offing and once they take off, things would change.