Busy roads with heavy traffic greet one to this mini-India-like town — Bollaram — located in Sangareddy district on the outskirts of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). The roads are narrow and if two heavy vehicles have to pass each other on the main road, one has to wait to give way to the other.
On another side of the town, women walking alongside the Kudikunta cheruvu on their way to work in a bulk drug industry located on the outskirts have to bear the stink emanating from the tank which was filled with garbage and debris of old buildings. As there is no dumping yard in the town, the garbage is being thrown into tank.
There are several industries located in and around the town and in Patencheru. They provide employment to people from different parts of the country — Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand.
Srinivas Reddy, a resident of the town, says the ground water here is, actually, not fit for even bathing as it causes itching and allergy but they were accustomed to using it for the past several years.
“We do not have any drinking water source; so we purchase water. But the town is providing us employment. Hence, despite heavy pollution, we are staying here,” said Pandari, a native of Odisha.
The municipality, which has a population of 28,418, has 22 wards.
