Parsigutta stinks as garbage piles up

​Hyderabad: It is not so long ago, to be precise in the month of June last year, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) had set up 400 Swachh units across the city with prominent leaders leading the pack to spruce up the city.

Today, a year after the fanfare and even a visit by the Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao to Parsigutta, it remains as dirty as ever. Stench, muck, overflowing drains and garbage greet visitors to the Parsigutta. Piling up of garbage is playing havoc and posing health hazard to people in the area. Accumulated garbage is also causing traffic jam.

While the prime areas in the city have been enjoying the luxury of door-to-door garbage collection by Swachh auto tipper, the slums in the city are still depending on the garbage bins and tricycles to dispose of waste. The huge piles of garbage and debris segregated on the roadside of several slums, including Parsigutta, Bagh Lingampally, Mothi Darwaza and others, present an ugly sight. The garbage segregation is not only emitting the foul smell but also has become breeding ground for stray dogs and mosquitoes.

P Sai Kiran, a slum dweller said, "Overflowing garbage bin is a common sight for us. Garbage trucks come just once a week here, so we are forced to bear with the stench." “It would be much better if the garbage bins are cleared every day.

Sometimes, it becomes impossible to keep our doors and windows open even during the day time,” he rued. People in several areas pack waste in plastic covers and throw it randomly towards the dustbins. As a result, the area around such bins is filled with foul smell, making it unbearable to even pass by, let alone reside.

Apart from disgusting odour, overflowing garbage bins are also becoming breeding ground for mosquitoes, said MD Irfan a resident of Mothi Darwaza. He said due the recent rains the moist conditions have aggravated the mosquito menace in the locality resulting in contagious diseases.

"The area opposite Golconda fort main gate has been converted into a local garbage dump. Garbage occupies a major portion of the gate, causing inconvenience to commuters. Children play at this spot," he said. The garbage is collected only once in two weeks, he complained. "Our slum was never visited by the garbage collectors because of lack of revenue from here." he alleged.

Stray dog menace
"Our area has dozens of stray dogs which thrive solely on the garbage in and around the bins. We are scared of our lives when passing through the area where bins are placed as one can always spot at least five to six dogs squabbling over trash," says K Padmavathi, a resident of Ambedkar colony in Bagh Lingampally.

When the issue was brought to the notice of GHMC officials, they said that they would look into the matter and take action on war-footing. The officials also said they would initiate appropriate action against the sanitary field assistants and officials concerned.

By: Maddy Deekshith