HYDERABAD: On walking down the bylanes of Chandanagar, stomach-churning odour of a huge open drain greets you. To one’s surprise, Google maps also highlight this nala as “open drainage canal”.
As this drain crisscrosses through a majority of the colonies, the residents are forced to make regular visits to hospitals. Reason: increase in the number of dengue cases.
Residents of several colonies including Gautami Nagar, PA Nagar and a part of Chandanagar have been requesting the authorities to take resolve the issue but in vain.
“I am sure that it’s going to take another reason to cover the open drain,” says Manoj Singh, a resident of PA Nagar. “A family member of mine had to be rushed to hospital after he contracted dengue, he was treated for 20 days,” Singh added.
Speaking to Express, Corporator of the ward B Navatha Reddy said, “An estimated amount of Rs 35 crore has been allocated to cover open drains at the recently concluded Maha Nagaram programme.” It is a matter of time for the issue to get resolved, she asserted.
Road to be repaired
Even though a majority of the roads across colonies have been either recarpeted or newly-laid, a particular stretch is devoid of a pucca road. The stretch connecting Ameenpur and Lingampally has been in shambles even though several colonies and gated communities have access to it. Likewise, the road that connects Prashanth Nagar colony and Ameenpur also meets the same fate. “Several governments have come but there has been no development in the deplorable condition of the roads. Gram Panchayat and the corporator should come to a consensus to build the road which is, otherwise, not being taken up,” said T Balagopal Reddy of Prashanth Nagar Colony.
“Construction of 150 ft road was promised during the last Assembly election and an estimated amount of Rs 4 crore was sanctioned only recently to carry out the development works,” Reddy said. Meanwhile, a prominent lake in the ward, Gangaram Cheruvu, has not been one of the lakes offering pleasant view to the locals. Despite several apartments coming up in and around the lake, the unprecedented growth of water hyacinth has the lake turned into a breeding ground of mosquitoes.