Hyderabad floods: People take to protest as relief reaches only select few

HYDERABAD: Days after the floods brought normal life to standstill in Hyderabad, a series of protests - ranging from rasta roko to effigy burning - were staged on Wednesday, as residents of flood-affected areas took to the streets accusing local corporators of bias in distribution of cash relief.

They alleged that the corporators were distributing money only to a select few, who they or the ruling dispensation were close to. It has also come to the fore that in certain areas, the corporators have been taking a part of the cash relief as "commission".

They take anywhere between Rs 2,000 and Rs 5,000 of the Rs 10,000 that the State government had promised households. The practice is especially prevalent in cases where the household has not suffered due to the flood, but the relief money was given anyway. 

Videos and pictures of protesting residents from areas like Gudimalkapur, IS Sadan, Malkajgiri, Bagh Amberpet and Mehdipatnam, were widely circulated on social media. 

Aggrieved over discrepancies in distribution of flood relief, residents of Hari Gate and BS Maqta, located opposite the Chief Minister’s Camp Office in Begumpet, staged a protest. Women from these areas, who were demonstrating next to the camp office, claimed they have not received any funds.

"We had waist-deep water in our houses and the local leaders are distributing the relief money among their own relatives, friends and their political influencers in the areas of BS Maqta, which were not even flooded," said Radhika, a resident of Hari Gate.

"The local MLA visited our area and promised relief funds but they did not give us any. They distributed the money only among a few residents, that too just Rs 5,000," said M Shradha, another resident.