HYDERABAD: Residents of North East Sneha Arcade (NESA) at Cyber Village Colony in Hafeezpet are a panicked lot, as the cellar in their apartment is inundated with water mixed with sewage, seeping from an adjacent drain.
The worried residents pin the blame on Hitex Exhibition Center, which hosts national-level expos and conferences regularly. Sewage water from the drain flows into a lake that is located between Hitex and Novotel hotel.
Residents allege that the drain flowing adjacent to their apartment was choked with mud filled by Hitex management and as a result, sewage water in the drain got accumulated and started seeping into their apartment’s cellar.
Harish Setty, a resident of NESA, said, “In the last 3-4 days, we observed that a lot of activity was going on at night around the drain. Vegetation surrounding the drain was being cleared and the drain was being blocked by filling of mud.” The dumping of mud into drain has also been captured by a CCTV camera.
On Friday, with no solution at sight to their woes, residents of NESA approached Serilingampally MLA, Arekapudi Gandhi, who visited the spot, after which, officials from town planning division of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation(GHMC), revenue department and police also visited. Following this, GHMC officials arranged for some earth movers and removed a portion of mud dumped into the drain. However, when Express visited the spot on Saturday, the dumped mud was only partially removed and the drain was still choked.
Complaint against Hitex
A complaint was filed in this regard against Hitex management on Friday with Madhapur police by Mandal Revenue Inspector(MRI) of Serilingampally based on information received from residents of NESA and another residential community, Movva Enclave. When contacted, police officials of Madhapaur police station said that no case has been booked yet against Hitex and inquiry is on.
All the residents of who spoke with Express said that when they tried to confront dumping of mud in the drain, an official of Hitex named Chary, argued with them rudely and told them that the dumping would continue. This is also mentioned in the complaint lodged with the police by Serilingampally MRI saying that Chary is the Chief Security Officer at Hitex.
Residents Concerned
Sambi Reddy, president of NESA residents association, said, “The sewage water in cellar is raising a lot of stink and we are worried about the associated health hazards. Since the last few days, we are constantly using motor and pumping out water from the cellar. The drain that has been choked is quite old”
New twist
Speaking to Express, Serilingampally MRI M Nihanth said that on Saturday some new details emerged, including that the land where the drain has been blocked by dumping of mud is actually owned by Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority(HMDA) which it plans to auction. He said that there will be more clarity on the issue on Monday
We did not do it: Hitex
When contacted, Gowri Shankar, senior official with Hitex Exhibition Center, said, “We do not know who blocked the drain. Hitex did not order or conduct blocking of any drain. Why would we do it? In fact, if the residents want any support we can help pumping out sewage water from their cellar”