Boduppal bereft of basic civic amenities

Hyderabad: Ten days ahead of the elections to the Boduppal Municipal Corporation (BMC), residents of several colonies are up in arms against the civic body citing lack of basic facilities in their areas.

According to one resident Rajagopal, Penta Reddy Colony and Sri Sai Enclave Colony are located nearer the BMC office. However, there are no proper transport facilities worth the name.

"Only two RTC buses ply in this area with a limited frequency and only one bus connects directly to the Koti. People have to depend on the shared autos.

If anyone gets down near the Boduppal Kaman after 8 PM, he has no other option but to walk down to home," he rued.

"Walking is not a problem, but potholed internal roads and malfunctioning streetlights give goosebumps to the pedestrian in the area," said Narasimhulu of Manikanta Nagar.

That apart, several colonies are facing acute water shortage problem. According to residents, the drinking water is supplied once in four to five days.

In summer, it will be once in a week or ten days. In all, people in several localities get the drinking water not more than six to seven times in a month, he said.

Similar problems are faced in other colonies like NIN Colony, Laxminagar Colony, New Hemanagar Colony, Mallikarjuna Nagar as well. The residents complain that there are no specific timings for the water supply.

The condition in several colonies under the three wards of Chengicherla is not better. Residents in 10 to 15 localities in Kranti Colony, Brindavan Colony, Rajeshnagar, Sridurga Nagar and others are solely depending on purchasing water from the private water suppliers, claim Vijay Kumar from Saidurga Nagar.

Residents in Vasavi Nagar Colony and Bhavani Nagar and the adjacent areas are also complaining about the drainage problems.

The residents are also not happy with garbage collectors either. The garbage collectors are paid Rs 100 by every household, but the garbage collection is not done every day.

Violation of the setback norms in the housing construction with the active support of local politicians is also not uncommon, they pointed out. It may be mentioned here that the BMC in all has 28 municipal wards.

Out of them, 25 wards fall under Boduppal and three others under Chengicherla. Dharmanna another resident said there is no uniformity in the service extended across the wards like water supply, street lighting, and drainage network etch.

For example, the civic body laid several roads adjacent to the main thoroughfare. But it is yet to focus on the internal roads leading to the colonies, from the main roads.

The cemented road laid in the first lane, near the drainage in Gayatri Nagar posing a problem for the residents.

While there is a streetlight problem in Dwarakanagar Colony, the civic body has to remove the electric poles erected along the road margins between Chengicherla and Boduppal.

As the elections are round the corner, the residents have expectation that the new municipal body will address their civic issues permanently.