HYDERABAD: The offender here isn’t a person, but a nala that has been under construction since 2015. Perennially delayed, the nala located in Secunderabad’s Jyothi Nagar had one more person falling into it on Monday. A motorist fell into the open nala and was admitted to a hospital with injuries. The 3-4 feet open nala that claimed the life of a person last year, is a death trap. Incidentally, he escaped from being hit by iron rods that were on a narrow side. Locals came to his rescue and tried to pull him out. However, he slipped and fell into sewage water. After 20 minutes of rescue attempts, he was brought out.
Residents allege that incidents of people falling into the nala has become a regular affair which shows the apathy of the GHMC in completing the works which have been going on for three years now. SK Jalil Khan, a resident of Jyothi Nagar, said: “The works are going on for the past three years. The contractors are changing but works are not completed yet. All our representations requesting to complete the works have fallen on deaf ears,” he said.
Another resident K Bhargva Rao said that his tweets to Municipal Administration and Urban Development minister KT Rama Rao evoked no response. “I have tweeted several times to KT Rama Rao but there is no response till now,” he said. Meanwhile, the GHMC officials claimed that they have suspended and blacklisted the contractor responsible for the lackadaisical attitude in finishing the works. “We have suspended the contractor for delaying the nala works,” said Ashwin Kumar superintending engineer, North Zone GHMC. It came to light that the contractor was using a poor quality material for constructing the boundary walls. “We blacklisted the contractor and invited new tenders,” Ashwin Kumar said.