HYDERABAD: Life is an everyday struggle for Ghous Nagar residents, a weaker section colony in Chandrayangutta, as the locality lacks access to basic amenities such as adequate water pipelines and proper drainage system. With an area inhabiting about 4,000 residents having just one pipeline with a single tap connection for drinking water needs, fights over water among residents is a commonplace.
V Venkatesh, basti leader, said, “The area is located at an elevation and that is why the stairs of the government funded houses they live in are difficult to climb. Imagine the plight of the women who have to fill up water in the mad rush at the public tap around 7.30 am every alternate day and have to climb up the oddly built stairs after walking over a kilometre through the basti.”
The administration is so negligent towards our problems that our life has become miserable here, said Laxmamma, a resident.
The residents pointed that not only water crisis but other aspects about the basti like roads and sanitation are also neglected by GHMC.
Several sewerage lines overflow through manholes in the midst of the basti, which is not only an eyesore but also breeding ground for mosquitoes.
Sheikh Ibrahim, another resident said, “Sometimes a few parts of the basti stink very badly.
The area has also not seen any GHMC worker coming here for days, which is why the roads have not been swept and the air here is extremely dusty .
Asma Masqati, a resident lamented the fact that even though she has no access to drinking water which flows out of the GHMC pipeline on many ocassions, as she stays about a kilometre away from it and the water supply is over by the time she reaches there, each family including hers has to pay a water bill of Rs 165 every month.
The residents also shared that except for a bus which is connected to the area, they have no access to any other transport. Mehnaz, a woman shared that the bus service ends at 10 pm. In emergency situations like if a pregnant woman is to be rushed to a hospital, they are left with no other way but to travel 3 kilometres to the main road to get access to an autorisckshaw.
When Chandrayangutta Ward corporator Abdul Wahab was contacted, he said the locality does not come under his jurisdiction, and refused to comment.