Basic amenities elude slum dwellers in Hyderabad
About 150 new slums have come up in Hyderabad during the last 15 years resulting in 28 per cent of the population of GHMC living in slums and the only improvement in their lives is that they all now possess a television in their homes and a cell phone in their hands.
​Hyderabad: About 150 new slums have come up in Hyderabad during the last 15 years resulting in 28 per cent of the population of GHMC living in slums and the only improvement in their lives is that they all now possess a television in their homes and a cell phone in their hands.
These were the findings of a sample survey taken up in slums by a voluntary organisation Bharat Niti, which has brought out a report ‘Tragedy of Hyderabad Slums (slums are hells)’ launched by Telangana BJP president K Laxman here on Monday.
The organisation had taken up a sample survey in 22 selected slums talking to 3,608 respondents. Giving details on the survey, JNU, post-doctoral fellow Prof S Lingamurthy said that between 2001 and 2010, 135 new slums were added to GHMC and there was not much change in the living standards of the slum dwellers.
Though many schemes are being implemented, basic amenities are not provided to the slum dwellers at several places, he said. He further said that more than 60 per cent of the slum dwellers live in less than 50-sq yards house.
Their monthly income is less than Rs 5,000 and expenditure is above Rs 5,000, which is a dangerous sign for them, said Lingamurthy. Still, 12 per cent of families living in slums do not have individual toilets and more than 48 per cent do not have access to primary education.
Insufficient paying capacity for their health care among the slum dwellers in Hyderabad resulted in high level of `under 5’ mortality rate. In addition to severe health hazards, illiteracy and lower literacy is at alarming state, he said.
Stating that the governments alone cannot improve the living conditions, Laxman wanted the civil societies to come forward and adopt bastis. Recalling that the State government had conducted an intensive household survey, Laxman said that it is not kept on public domain for reasons not known.
He said that the Centre had allocated Rs 483 crore to Telangana for housing but there is no attempt by the government to construct the houses. He said that there is a need for bringing the water works, electricity into municipal administration for providing better facilities to the slums.
He said that the rulers should not treat the slums as mere voters but do something which can improve their livelihood. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was striving to make slum free cities by 2022.
BJP national general secretary P Muralidhar Rao said that the livelihood of the people in slums provides evidence to the functioning of the governments. He said that the slums present a sad story of the governance in Telangana.
Basar IIT director Prof C Satyanarayana, Osmania University Prof of Department of Sociology V Jagadeeshwar Rao and Doctoral scholar in Department of English, OU Solanky Sreenivas also addressed.
