Tirupati: Narayanapuram residents live with stinking canals, mosquitoes

Tirupati: Narayanapuram residents under the 3rd division of Tirupati Municipal Corporation are staying far away from any sort of development for a long time. The colony is lacking even essential amenities like roads and drains. Even the existing roads were badly damaged with the recent floods.

The colony has more than 2,000 houses with a population of around 6,000 which includes officials, big business people and politicians apart from auto drivers, daily labourers and small workers who are in majority.

The open drains on the side of street were not being cleared even once in 15 days and became breeding ground for mosquitoes causing diseases among the residents. It has been spreading a bad smell making it unable to bear. The roads were in a bad shape after the floods and drinking water was also contaminated with drain water as the pipelines were broken at many places. The municipal sanitary department staff usually come in the morning to clear the garbage dumped somewhere in the area and leave without caring for the clogged drains. The repeated appeals of colony residents were going in vain in this regard.

A resident and CPI(ML) New Democratic district secretary R Harikrishna said side canals were not cleared for the past 15 days and the stagnated water in the canals is spreading a bad smell causing inconvenience to them. The issue was taken to the notice of the civic authorities many times but no one showed any concern. Ramana, another resident, said they have been complaining about the side canals and water contamination issues to the sanitary staff almost every day but could not get any solution.

He said the mosquito menace has been scaring them of severe health problems. The damaged roads were causing accidents to two-wheeler riders particularly during nights.