Hyderabad: Residents of the 133rd division of Macha Bollaram under the Malkajgiri Assembly segment formed a Residents Welfare Joint Action Committee (RWJAC) and are up in arms against the local civic body accusing it of grabbing their graveyard.

According to residents of Sai Reddy Nagar, “A philanthropic Samala Venkata Reddy bought 10 acres of land with his own money many years ago. He gave five acres each for Hindu and Muslim graveyards. Since then, everyone in the surrounding five-kilometre area has been performing funeral for their dear ones there.”

However, recently the civic body brought JCBs and men for levelling the ground and set up a mini dump yard and the local civic body is planning to bring all the garbage around here and dump it there, they complained.

Briefing the visiting Malkajgiri MP Etala Rajender on Saturday, the residents said that officials of the civic body said “they will dump the garbage in the morning and take it away in the evening. Contrary to this, the garbage is being dumped here. “There are 33 colonies around. The dump yard is polluting the groundwater, the smell is unbearable, and insects are also coming in. They are suffering from respiratory and skin diseases,” they said.

Besides, notwithstanding the revenue officials’ decision that this is a graveyard and they have not given permission for any construction, “the municipal officials are trying to locate a garbage dumping yard and working proactively.”

Sensing resident’s anguish the MP who visited the area assured to take up the issue with the higher officials and the In-Charge Minister to arrange an alternative to dumping garbage in the middle of houses. He asked the Municipal authority Srinivasa Reddy to stop the construction immediately.