Patrika Nagar slum-dwellers cry for attention

Madhapur: Multi-storeyed buildings, software professionals and luxury on one hand juxtaposed with a slum lacking basic amenities – the ground reality at the 500-olld huts at Patrika Nagar Ambedkar Colony here presents a sorry image. For over a while now, slum-dwellers are crying for attention and problems like lack of drinking water, overflowing sewage pipelines and bad roads are seen aplenty.

Highlights:

• Opposites meet at Patrika Nagar Ambedkar Colony with luxury flats on one hand juxtaposed with slums on the other
• While one side has abundance, the other cries for attention for drinking water and other civic amenities
• Even though slum-dwellers have Aadhaar card, Voter IDs, and Food Security cards they are ignored by the government, they complain

Despite having Aadhaar cards, 670 Voter IDs, receiving Electricity Bills and Food Security Cards, the dwellers are still ignored by the government.

The dwellers who are living in the revenue land for the past 15 to 20 years now complain that Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) officials continually harass them to vacate the place. Most of these people are migrators in search of livelihood and they work as daily-wage labourers, security guards and domestic helpers.

Sharing details of their plight, K Deema Rao, a resident said, “The problem is persisting for many years now. We don’t have proper sewage lines here. They authorities dug up the place, but no connection line has been set up.”

P Manisha added, “We do not have toilets and there is no other option other defecating in the open. In emergency cases we have set up a small toilet beside our huts but the water overflows and because of this mosquitoes are in abundance. Our children are falling ill regularly.”

Complaints also surfaced regarding supply of drinking water. According to D Rani, “There is no water facility here and we have to purchase drinking water. When a water tank comes, the person operating it demands Rs 50 per each drum filled. We are forced to purchase drinking water from shops or borrow from the nearest building.”

Meanwhile, C Kumar Swami, Sarpanch for the huts in the slum, said, “The problem of drinking water is long standing. While it is appreciated that at least tankers come here, it is unacceptable that these dwellers shell out money for it.”

Further, he said that GHMC officials removed a few huts from the slum about five years ago and that they made multiple representations to officials and MLAs about it. “To that end, K Shankar Goud Serilingampally in-charge from TRS allowed us to keep the huts here and vacate the place only after the academic year so that education of children is not affected,” he said.

Earlier, there was a drainage line passing through the land that was covered to keep the huts safe. The dwellers requested the government to grant them housing schemes so that they can live in peace.

By Sravanthi Sanam