Hyderabad: Lack of coordination among GHMC officials irks colony residents

Hyderabad: In the absence of proper coordination among officials of the GHMC, specially in Rajendranagar, the civic issues pertaining to post-shower emergencies--such as ravaged and messy roads in colonies--have not been attended to promptly despite being raised with authorities. Rain- ravaged roads in several colonies are causing severe inconvenience to residents.

Cherry on the top is officials are in a denial mode despite being directed by higher-ups through twitter following the issues raised by the residents. This came to the fore when a local resident of Shastripuram Colony raised the rain- battered road issue on twitter supported by pictures, tagging the GHMC.

Although the GHMC responded a few minutes later with a reply that the concerned area AE (engineering) has been informed to attend to the issue immediately after due site inspection tagging to the EE Rajendranagar, the concerned AE refused to address the issue claiming the responsibility to clear silt from road rests with the sanitary section, and not the engineering.

"It is the engineering section which laid the road in the colony without anticipating the dwindling slope on a half km-long stretch will lead to accumulation of silt during rain, thereby making it difficult for the residents to pass the road seamlessly. When they raised the issue with the concerned officials, they are simply pointing to the sanitation wing for removing the silt. This made it completely difficult for the residents to cross the stretch," complained Syed Shoukat Ali, a senior resident of the colony.

Lashing out at officials for failing to address civic grievances raised by the residents, M A H Asif, a resident, said, "when we tried to raise the ravaged road issue with the official, the AE (engineering), of GHMC Rajendranagar, Nagi Reddy, abruptly disconnected the call. He conveyed that the job to remove silt rests with the sanitary section and has nothing to do with the engineering wing. This even after the GHMC, through its twitter handle, directed an official from the engineering wing to address the issue at the earliest."

"This is not the way to behave with the residents over phone when taxpayers and law-abiding citizens come to officials with civic issues, which are causing inconvenience to them regularly. Such attitude of officials from the GHMC Rajendranagar, prompted us to approach the High Court in the past to seek a remedy in a PIL," he argued.