Express News Service
HYDERABAD: Irony died a painful death when 36 families who lost their homes to a demolition drive at Keshavnagar on August 1 were rehabilitated in a single-room “permanent” accommodation in Wambay Housing in the same locality. Surrounded by plush MNC offices, these crammed up houses have no water facility. The 240-single room houses have toilets which are rendered useless in the absence of water and doors.
Residents— men, women, and children — are forced to defecate in the open areas adjoining their housing complex. They claim that after having lost all their homes and possessions in the demolition, the new houses are robbing them of their dignity, each day. “There is no drinking water or sewage lines in the housing complex. The toilets are just for name sake so we are forced to attend to relieve ourselves in the open. For women, particularly, this is very difficult and not even safe. The officials, when they were relocating us, painted a rosy picture. The reality here is very different. We were not informed that there is no water supply,” rued B Maheshwari.
Along with the displaced family from Kesshavnagar, there are another 136 families who were rehabilitated in the Wambay housing after their homes in Patrika Nagar, Madhapur, were gutted in a fire, in February. The families allege that both GHMC and Revenue department officials have turned a blind eye to their problems. B Balamma another resident said that few houses were gutted in a fire five months ago and those there survived were overnight demolished by the West Zone GHMC officials. “We shifted into the Keshava Nagar Wambay hosing complex. There is no water facility here and we need to buy water from the private Tankers that charge Rs 50 per drum. The GHMC and Revenue officials have vested interest in relocating us here so that they can give the land to private companies,” Balamma said.
GHMC Zonal Commissioner, West Zone, D Hari Chandana said that there is a sewage line to Wambay Housing but there is no water facility. Meanwhile, Deputy collector of Rangareddy, S Tirupathi Rao, refuted the allegations and said that rehabilitation had been arranged for 50 families in the Wambay house at Gopanpally.
14 families continue to live in makeshift tents
More than five days after their homes in Keshav Nagar were demolished, 14 families continue to live in makeshift accommodations after the revenue officer, allegedly, failed to rehabilitate them. M Durga, who lost the house, said that while other 36 families were provided a single room habitation, a few families, like hers were left out
