Hyderabad: Manholes, potholes continue to haunt Nizampet residents

Hyderabad : Manhole and pothole menace is more in the Nizampet Municipal Corporation (NMC), one of the fastest growing suburbs in the city. It is also known as the third richest urban local body.

The saddest part is the municipality lacks basic civic amenities. Authorities have not fixed potholes and manholes even after the recent rains. The incident of a four-year-old boy getting washed away brought to light the negligent attitude of the municipal staff.

It has been more than three days the boy’s body was found in a manhole. Yet manholes are lying uncovered; lanes of NMC are full of potholes. Many major accidents have occurred–last month an eight-year-old student was crushed to death by a speeding school bus. Even after that officials did not bother to repair the lanes, allege local residents.

Said Sai Teja, a local,“We residents of Nizampet daily face hardship to use roads. Recently a heart-touching incident took place–a boy slipped into an open drain. Even after the fatal incident the concerned officials failed to cover drains’.

‘The main drawback in this municipality is that for each and every issue we need to meet the commissioner, as other junior officers appear least bothered to solve issues’.

Said another resident B Srinivas, “Be an internal road or main road; it has become an eyesore for commuting. Forget about commuting on roads, it is even difficult to walk as the stretch as it is filled with mud and stormwater. Also lanes are not properly illuminated. With every rain the entire road suffers more damage. Many representations have been given to NMC to repair roads, but concerted measures are yet to be taken. Whenever it rains, as temporary relief, they cover it with sand. After rain it gets washed away. The civic body should better provide a permanent solution.”

According to a local, Sunil, “Many fatal accidents have occurred in these two months due to bad roads and open nala. The roads and nalas have become death traps for the locals. Many times we have posted issues on Twitter but no concerned officials responded. It is high time they take initiative to cover the nalas and re-carpet roads.”