It was around two years ago when a man was reportedly swept away in storm water drain in Macca Colony of Kalapather. Two years later, work at the nala is still in progress but residents of the area, which is a part of the Ramnaspura ward, have heaved a sigh of relief, even as they point out that more need to be done.
Designated as Ward 55, and as per data available with the Telangana State Election Commission, Ramnaspura has a total of 37,802 voters. Of this 19,336 are men and 18,457 are women. There are nine more categorised as ‘others’. An additional 176 voters have been added.
In the poll fray are All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s Mohammed Khader, Telangana Rashtra Samithi’s Mohd Inkeshaf, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Guru Charan and Congress’ Younus.
Residents pointed out that while civic infrastructure has improved over the past few years, the perennial problem of overflowing sewage water and broken or misplaced manholes remains. They added that once the construction of Macca Colony storm water drain is complete, a major cause of concern would have been taken care of.
“Two years ago a man was swept away when the nala got inundated. Residents here were worried when this happened. However, work has begun. We hope that the problem will be solved once and for all. When the GHMC was making the most by building bridges and laying roads in the lockdown, they did little work here, which is unfortunate,” said S.Q. Masood, a resident of the area, who had brought the issue to the attention of authorities.
Residents and those who are involved in development work in the area said that it was in March 2019 that work began. They alleged that the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) dragged its feet, and that work should have been completed much sooner.
Across the road from Macca Colony is Bilal Nagar, also a part of the Ramnaspura ward. Mohammed Munawar, a tailor, said that civic works here have been executed. However, occasionally the issue of polluted water crops up once or twice in two or three months. Another problem is the constant overflowing of sewage water.
“Around 10 years ago, a new nala in Bilal Nagar was constructed, which took care of a major problem. It would be great if the problem of overflowing drainage water is tackled. There is also a problem of lifting of garbage in Macca Colony,” he said.