The forgotten city lies in neglect

The majestic Charminar, Chowmohalla palace and the historic Mecca Masjid — all three monuments speak volumes about the rich and glorious past of the purana shahar in particular and Hyderabad in general. Every year, tourists from across the globe, make it a point to visit Old City to have a view of these famous monuments. But unfortunately, this is just a rosy picture. No drinking water, unhygienic conditions, congested roads, traffic snarls throughout the day are just a few of the civic issues that are plaguing the dingy lanes and by-lanes of Old City. Now, with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections round the corner, residents are clinging on to a few strands of hope expecting things to improve. After delimitation, as many as 50 corporators are contesting in the GHMC polls. Expresso visited various localities in Old City and the reality was quite grim. Zareena Begum, a resident of Yakutpura is busy filling an application form to get old age pension for her mother. “This is the 10th application I am filling for the pension. I applied several times, but every time I visit the officials, they ask me to get a new form. I don’t know when we will get the pension amount,” the 35-year-old says alleging that officials do not even maintain records. While late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s pet scheme — Indiramma Housing, that aims to construct house for the people with the assistance from the State Government, is catching up with the people in other parts of the State, for some reasons, Old City has been exempted from the scheme even though as many as 75,000 people from Old City have applied for it. “About 75,000 people applied for Indiramma housing scheme to construct new houses in the Old City but the officials have not sanctioned a single house so far,” complained Dharma Naik, a resident. Ali Hussain Somali, an auto-rickshaw driver, who makes a few hundred of rupees every day, wants a solution to the traffic congestion. “Several roads are heavily congested because vendors and small business enterprises have set shop here. I expect the Government to initiate measures to make Old City free from traffic snarls,” Somali says. He complains that due to the high traffic density a number of accidents take place regularly. Mohammad Hashmed Ali, a social worker says that the Water Board officials have failed to provide drinking water to many areas in the Old City. “Even when we are supplied water, more often then not it is contaminated,” he says. Ali demands that the candidates who are contesting from Old City, assure that the residents of round-the-clock drinking water supply. A local CPM leader, M Srinivas Reddy, says that the economic hub of Old City, Charminar is facing severe traffic snarls and transportation problems due to narrow roads. “Due to the problem, there is no Setwin bus service here. The much-touted Charminar Pedestrianisation project is still not complete as the widening of the Inner Ring Road is going on. “Traffic congestion is a serious problem and absence of bus shelters at the new road in Shalibanda is a big problem and commuters are forced to stand under the hot sun,” he says. “I don’t trust political leaders. They come only during elections and make hollow promises. They forget the masses once they clinch power, but who will solve our problems,” asks Abid, a mobile shop owner. MIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi said thousands of rupees were collected from several people so that houses could be sanctioned to them under the Indiramma Housing Scheme and Rajiv Swagruha, but so far not a single house has been sanctioned. “Late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy also laid foundation stone for the schemes at Bandlaguda in the Old city. Officials collected between Rs 10,000 to 70,000 from the poor people and failed to construct houses. I demanded that the officials at least return the money to the people with interest,” he said. BY MOULI MAREEDU