Hyderabad: Ward remains true to its name 'Kunta' says Nawab Saheb Kunta division locals

The Nawab Saheb Kunta (47) division comes under Bahadurpura constituency and is one of the low-lying areas in Old City. Locals refer to this area as 'Kunta.'

The division covers Nawab Saheb Kunta, Gudi-ka-Dawakhana, Mustafa Nagar, Tigal Kunta, Almas Hotel, Tadbun, Mir Alam road, some localities of Kalapathar and around 90 per cent of the localities are slums. With 36,819 voters and around some 55,000 population with the majority being Muslims, this ward otherwise has a mixed population.

For past few decades, AIMIM has been the party winning the GHMC elections in this BC (women) reserved ward. GHMC corporator Shireen Khatoon represents Nawab Saheb Kunta division is 25-year-old who has just completed her post-graduation from Mesco College of Pharmacy at Mustaidpura, Karwan.

In 2016, she won with 13,492 votes with nearest contender Farhat Sultan of TRS with just 1,536 votes. This year also the candidate from AIMIM is Shireen Khatoon and only 3 candidates are contesting in Nawab Saheb Kunta including Sameena Begum of TRS and Mehraj Begum of INC.

Major Issues

Several major issues have been disturbing the residents of Nawab Saheb Kunta for past several years. People say they haven't seen any kind of developmental works in recent past. The division has a long history of civic issues such as bad roads, contaminated drinking water, regular sewage overflow, lack of UPHCs, parks or playground, community halls.

Most importantly, Kunta is one of the worst wards with respect to sanitation in Old City. Even though the division covers almost all slums, the government is not bothered about health and needs of people.

"Forget about roads and basic needs, the residents here are living amidst regular sewage overflow and civic authorities could not find a permanent solution. The localities have 3-4 major nala and during every rainfall several localities are prone to waterlogging and flooding. Being a Muslim party, the party has not done anything for the Muslim dominate area," said Mohammed Ahmed, a social activist.

"Kunta is Pakka Purana Shaher, the area will always be neglected for any kind of developmental works. As it is a majority Muslim population the municipality does not do much as compared to Ravindra Colony which is nearby. The medical system of Nawab Saheb Kunta is poor. Regularly, people who live there are diagnosed with different diseases," he added.

Problems are aplenty, such as no sweeping on roads, no desilting of manholes, bad state of existing roads and no new roads for years etc. "Even after many complaints to the GHMC, we are facing neglect. Due to lack of hygiene, the colony has also become a breeding ground for mosquitoes," said Mohammed Yousuf of Nawab Saheb Kunta.

Most of the areas in the division face the problem of sewage overflow, because of an old drainage system which causes drainage overflow on roads, making it horrible for commuters as well as residents. The department concerned should solve the problem permanently and must change the system by new." said Mohammed Imran of Mustafa Nagar.

History

Nawab Saheb Kunta was named after Nawab Moin-ud-Daula Bahadur who was a descendant from the nobel Paigah family. He was Amir-e-Paigah. Among a lot more jagirs, areas called Jahanuma and Nawab Saheb Kunta were part of his jagir. During the Nizam era about 40 acres called Nawab Saheb Kunta was once a water body till 1970s and hence known after him as 'Nawab Saheb Kunta'. One such unit of army was located in Jahanuma lancer.