Shastripuram, an urban enclave, in utter civic mess

Rajendranagar: Despite being developed as a residential layout by the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority some 34 years ago, the Shastripuram Colony in Rajendranagar on the city outskirts still lags behind other residential quarters in terms of civic amenities like proper sewerage system, roads and sanitary measures.

Heaps of garbage at street corners, filth overflowing in lanes, unmetalled roads, broken manholes and water spillage on roads for hours make this colony the most-neglected habitation in the city.

Holding the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and the Shastripuram Co-operative House Building Society responsible for the unpleasant appearance of the Colony, Syed Shoukat Ali, a senior resident of the Colony said, "Both the bodies are playing a role of mute spectators to the sufferings of residents for years. A half a dozen spacious open places, meant to develop facilities for residents, are neglected for years paving way for the landsharks to gobble them."

"The Colony is yet to come out of the clutches of illegal industries despite the High Court passing a whipping order to remove them from the residential area," he said, adding that heavy vehicles with construction material were plying inside the Colony damaging the sewerage system which was already weak.

"Leave alone providing better amenities, the GHMC is unable to clear the trash. Neither it has placed garbage bins in the colony nor it is lifting the garbage through its garbage collection teams regularly. As a result, heaps of trash can be seen in almost all the lanes in the Colony," bemoaned Syed Mushtaq, another resident.