Hyderabad: Floods exposed leaders' apathy

Barkas, ward no 42 under Chandrayangutta GHMC circle is a residential division in the Old City of Hyderabad. The name "Barkas" is believed to be derived from the English word "barracks", which served as the military barracks of the Nizam of Hyderabad before Indian independence. The area is noted for culture with its Arab influences, which is integral to the city's culture. Barkas, is a political sensitive area that has caught everyone's imagination, as the battle lines are drawn between three rival parties TRS, AIMIM and BJP in the ensuing GHMC elections.

With 20,742 male and 20,333 female voters, the Barkas ward carries a total 41,075 electors who would be exercising their franchise in 48 polling stations. The division includes colonies such as Badi Masjid area, Ghatain Function hall area, Rahmathnagar Colony, Jamal Banda, Pili Dargah, Mumtaz Bagh, Rajiv Gandhi Nagar and Bandlaguda.

Compared to last elections, this time there has been an increase of 5,147 electors in the ward. Another change being witnessed this time is the entry of BJP candidate Vijaya Laxmi contesting from the saffron fold in the 'Battle of Barkas'.

As the ward is reserved for BC (Women) category, only seven women candidates contested the previous election in which AIMIM candidate Shabana Begum turned victorious. However, this time only three women candidates - Cheniahgari Saritha from TRS, Vijaya Lakshmi from BJP and the incumbent Shabana Begum are in the fray. Though the ward is one among the bastions of AIMIM party, the mood of electors here has turned sour as they have, of late, suffered with a horrific flood that inundated several colonies for a month forcing them to move up to their elevated floors or take shelter at relatives' homes. Moreover, they are not happy with the way their ward was being represented in terms of dealing with civic issues. "On the onset of winter, we were forced to spend nights in our houses inundated under knee level flood water. The only option was to move to upstairs or take shelter at other places. We were completely traumatized and largely survived on the relief extended by the locals and NGOs. For the first time in my life I really feel no presence of any governance around us. Whatever help we received was from local volunteers instead of GHMC or government," rued Sadiq Bin Musfair, a resident.