Hyderabad: Residents long for clean drinking water

The Jahanuma division (ward no 54), under Bahadurpura constituency, is an historic place, which once housed a light cavalry unit of the Paigahs and is now known as 'Jahanuma Lancer.' Jahanuma, one of the oldest slums since Nizam's rule, covers areas like Misrigunj, Jahanuma, Shamsheergunj, Dargah-e-Shah Raju Qattal, Amjad-ud-Daula Bagh, Shama Talkies road. Around 70 per cent of the division is slums comprising 46,949 voters out of a mixed population of 55,000 with a majority being Muslims.

In the past elections, AIMIM has been the party winning this BC reserved ward. In 2016, Khaja Mubasheeruddin Hussaini Pasha won with 15,278 votes against the nearest contender Khaja Gayasuddin of Congress with 1,560 votes.

This year Mohammed Abdul Muqtadar is contesting from AIMIM, following shuffling by the party. Candidates contesting include Mohd Ahmed Shareef (Independent), Palle Veeramani (TRS), Mohammed Waheed Ali (Independent), Khaja Gayasuddin (INC), A Srihari (BJP).

Major issues

The major issues that have been disturbing the residents of Jahanuma is lack of basic facilities like government hospitals. "The residents here are living without health centers and a major issue is receiving contaminated water supply," said Mohammed Ahmed, a social activist. Because of lack of UPHC and Basti Dawakhana in Jahanuma division, the patients are forced to visit private clinics. "Before elections, recently a Basti Dawakhana was opened, and is the only one government health care center in the slum areas," said Mohammed Jaffer, a resident of Jahanuma.

"Jahanuma is a pakka Old City, the area has been always neglected for any kind of developmental works. No sweeping of roads, no desilting of manholes, the roads have not been re-laid for years etc. Due to lack of hygiene, the colony has also become a breeding ground for mosquitoes," said Syed Yousuf of Misrigunj. Most of the areas are facing sewage overflow issues due to outdated drainage systems. The concerned department should solve the problem permanently by overhauling the drain system," said Imran Khan of Shama Talkies road.

History

There was a Jahanuma Palace, the residence of Paigah's family. Jahanuma means 'view of the world'. Earlier, there were some gates for the entry and exit of the area and still have the guard rooms.

After the rule of the Nizam's, the Jahanuma Palace was razed down and later converted into a residential area. Still now there are some ancient houses in the area and several families living here claim to be descendants of the Paigah's army.

About a few decades ago, Jahanuma Lancer still looked like a historic place with such old houses. Then people started constructing houses and some new buildings were also constructed, said Mohammed Ahmed. The place has a 350-year-old tomb of Shah Raju Qattal Hussaini and was built by Abul Hasan Tanasha, the last ruler of the Qutubshahi dynasty in the memory of his mentor Shah Raju, who had foretold Tanashah's elevation to the throne.

The dome of the tomb is 164ft high, supported by 110 pillars made of single stone, with each of them 25ft in height. It is one of the oldest and the biggest tombs in the city and also received the INTACH heritage award.