HYDERABAD: Right from the by-lanes to the main road, Ghansi Bazar in the Old City is sure to lead the race when it comes to the dumping of garbage. The problem is so much, so, that the piles of garbage and stray dogs feasting on them is what welcomes tourists as the Telangana Tourism department’s hop-on-hop-off bus stops at Chowmahalla Palace.
Known for its commercial significance, the ward located on the banks of river Musi and the State High Court also has to deal with mosquito menace, besides the growing problem of illegal constructions.
Take, for instance, Babri Alawa where the majority comprises a migrant population from West Bengal, the small bylanes are infested with garbage at every second home and shop.
“If the sanitation inspector would have taken a little interest, garbage dumping would not have been as rampant as it is now,” said Purushotham Sharma, a resident of Ghansi Bazar. This is on top of the mosquito menace that forces us to stay indoors during the evening, he gloomed.
Upon asking B Banerjee, an 82-year-old senior citizen for a solution to the problem, he said that there is no solution as the problem is with the government who does not want to look beyond a few posh colonies and localities.
“Urban sprawl has happened here as well and not just in the West Zone but, the government is least bothered. Take this road (pointing at a damaged road in Babri Alwa), this has been like this for more than a month now, who is going to improve road conditions here,” he questioned.
On contacting the corporation of Ghansi Bazar, Renu Soni shifted the blame for the pathetic situation of the ward on to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).
“Garbage dumping is a serious issue and I have personally raised the issue at the GHMC standing committee meeting for allocation of more vehicles (Swachh auto tippers) but nothing has been done till date,” said Soni.
“All commercial areas like these should be allocated with more garbage transfer vehicles,” she observed. On illegal constructions popping up, she said that “the onus was on the GHMC to check such constructions.”
Dysfunctional public toilet
The only public toilet at Chelapura, a busy street area with multiple shopping establishments and even a temple has a dysfunctional public toilet lying unused for over nine months now. “Just for the sake of construction that exists (referring to the toilet). Otherwise, when it started, there was no maintenance and to top it, there is no water connection provided to it,” said B Kashinath, a local.