Situation in Gulbarga is ‘very bad’: SHRC member

A member of the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) C.G. Hungund said that if government officials in different departments treated people who approached them with humanness and respect their rights, half of the complaints of the human rights violations could be avoided.

Delivering a lecture on violation of human rights and the responsibility of officials to prevent them, here on Wednesday, Mr. Hungund said that there was an urgent need to create awareness about the need to protect human rights and sensitise senior officials about them.

In Gulbarga, of the total 995 complaints registered with the SHRC, 620 were resolved. The remaining 375 cases are in different stages of inquiry. A majority of the complaints received were against police harassment.

Turning to the overall situation and incidents of human rights violation in Gulbarga, Mr. Hungund said that the situation appeared to be “very bad,” with people being denied basic amenities such as drinking water supply, foolproof underground drainage system, good roads and health care facilities.

Based on the complaints on the lack of basic amenities in certain localities, Mr. Hungund said that he visited some of the localities including the areas in and around Khaja Banda Nawaz Dargah, frequented by pilgrims from all over the country and outside.

He observed that the the situation “was woeful.” Residents of localities around the dargah do not have assured drinking water supply, underground drainage system and the sewage generated in the locality flows in the open drain. Garbage is dumped in the local tank, polluting the water body. The same tank recharges the borewells in the locality.

During the visit, he said the people had complained about the practice of the city corporation officials of burning garbage dumped in the tank bed, which was still more dangerous than polluting the environment. “If this is the situation in the district headquarters, I can image the condition of other cities and smaller towns in Gulbarga, and other districts of the Hyderabad Karnataka region.”

Mr. Hungund advised officials of the police and Road Transport Office to prevent overcrowding in autorickshaws transporting children to the school.

Although the Government General Hospital was clean and hygienic, there was a shortage of medical and paramedical staff and this needs to be filled up to provide proper healthcare.

The government should also extend cardiac and neurological department services in the government hospitals.