Shamshabad remains backward despite presence of RGI Airport

Hyderabad: Despite having an International Airport, people of Shamshabad Municipality have been facing many problems even for basic needs including lack of safe drinking water, no proper drainage system, illegal layouts etc. Shamshabad was a Gram Panchayat and was made Municipality recently.

The municipality is spread across Shamshabad, Gollapally, Ootpally, Tondapally, Kothwalguda and Satamrai. Though municipality is close to the State capital Hyderabad, the people are suffering even for the safe drinking water.

The locals have to shell out money to get a can of drinking water and depend mostly on borewell water for other use. The borewell water is stored in overhead tank and supplied once in a week.

The authorities used to provide Krishna drinking water for couple of days, but that was also stopped and now meter work is going on, said locals. There is no Mission Bhagiratha or any other scheme right now, lamented the locals.

Apart from lack of drinking water, there is no proper drainage system in the municipality. The locals said that there is no outlet for the drainage system hence the drainage water goes underground or into the lakes.

"When the international airport came in our village, we thought there would be many development would take place but we have not seen any development except for a road connecting the airport and few function halls," said local resident and a private employee R Sridhar Reddy, adding that there was only one function hall earlier but now there are 13 function halls within one sq kilometre radius of the municipality thanks to the PVNR expressway and four-lane road.

The residents said that the illegal layouts have flourished in the Gram Panchayat/ municipality during the last few years. "The authorities come and issue notices for name sake and later do not bother to take any action on the illegal layouts or illegal construction," said G Subhash, a local kirana shop owner.

The residents said that many illegal layouts have come up in the areas like Kapugadda, RB Nagar and Mission Compound.

Shamshabad former Sarpanch R Siddheshwar said, "For name sake we have international airport but we don't get a 'naya paisa' from it. The GMR got a GO from the government getting exemption from paying the taxes to the Gram Panchayat. If the Panchayat could receive tax from the airport, there would have been many development activities."

Siddheshwar said that the main problem for lack of development in Shamshabad is because of GO 111. The GO comes in way of any development activity in the municipality.

"On one hand the government allows expansion of the airport and also takes up construction of RGIA police station on the lands which falls under GO 111, there is no effort to provide relief to the common people," said Siddheshwar.

When pointed out about the illegal layouts, Siddheshwar said that he supports the illegal layouts stating that where will people go if they are not allowed to construct their own houses.

"When the locals don't get double bedroom houses as promised by the government where they will go? They will construct houses with without permission," he said. He said that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao promised to scrap GO 111 when local MLA Prakash Goud joined TRS but the promise is not fulfilled yet.

The residents said that unless the government steps in and takes corrective measures the things are not going to change. The immediate needs in the municipality include potable drinking water, proper drainage system with (STPs) sewerage treatment plants, dumping yards etc, said the locals.