HYDERABAD: With a mixed bag of urban rich and urban poor problems, the Kukatpally Assembly constituency has expectations aplenty from their MLA candidates for the upcoming elections. With almost all wards facing issues of poor drainage and erratic supply of water, the basic necessities top the list of demands.
“There is no regular supply of water. We get water only once a week. It doesn’t feel like we live in Hyderabad city,” said Maitri Ramakrishna, a resident of Anjaiah Nagar in Old Bowenpally. Water is not the only issue. The issue also lies with the improper drainage lines which have found their way into party manifestos.
“Our focus is not just on flyovers and roads. Even though the constituency is considered to have 100% urban population, the facilities to the poor are substandard. The standard of living is poor and the cleanliness and access to basic amenities is poor,” said a member of TDP Manifesto team.
The people couldn’t agree less. Disappointed with four years of previous government’s rule which could not fetch even basic ‘Makaan’ and ‘Naukri’, the small community of Punjabi BCs and SCs located in Old Bowenpally have decided to support a new leader this time.
“We have been here for over 40 years and parties after parties have promised us 2 BHK homes. We go for rallies every four years and support candidates from different parties hoping they at least provide us with permanent employment,” said Deepa Kaur, a resident of Harijan basti.
On the urban city issues, the people have been strengthening their demand for better traffic management.“There are no footpaths for the number of pedestrians that travel through these roads. There are flyovers commissioned, but what about commuter safety and traffic management?” asks Niranjan Reddy, a resident of KPHB an area which has seen some major accidents this year.