For days unknown, she endured harsh rains, the unbearable stench of urine and excreta, with only a bleak hope that unruly motorists wouldn’t splash her with filthy, stagnant rainwater as they speeded past on the Oliphanta Bridge in Secunderabad.
Her terrible plight finally caught the attention of a regional newspaper Eenadu, which published the photo of the elderly woman who had no place to call home except a flimsy shelter made of a tarpaulin sheet beside the bridge. A pithy caption below, explained her ordeal.
But still the unidentified woman’s plight might have gone unnoticed, if a Twitter user had not tweeted a photo of the paper clipping to Minister for Information and Technology, KT Rama Rao, on Wednesday night.
— kashmolasudheer@gmai (@kashmolasudheer) August 30, 2017
Within minutes the Minister had replied, directing officials of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to shift the elderly woman to a night shelter and give her the care she needed.
We will take care brother. @GHMCOnline have your DC visit & shift her to a night shelter nearby https://t.co/BtlLq1YRLb
— KTR (@KTRTRS) August 30, 2017
The GHMC immediately swung into action and by Thursday afternoon, the woman was taken to a night shelter in Namalgandu, Secunderabad.
Old woman has been Shifted to Namalgandu Night Shelter yesterday by #GHMC staff & then shifted to her relatives house as requested by her pic.twitter.com/k2zHP7Xypq
— GHMC (@GHMCOnline) August 31, 2017
GHMC authorities said that the woman, presumed to be 90 years old, was unable to walk.
However, added GHMC Project Director, D Soujanya, who is in charge of the Corporation’s relief and rehabilitation programmes, the elderly woman, did not wish to continue staying at the shelter.
“My colleagues told me that she insisted on leaving the GHMC shelter. She asked us to send her to her relatives’ home in Bhoiguda, and we took her there,” she said.
Minister KTR and the GHMC won much praise on Twitter for their swift action in providing care and attention to the elderly woman.
Well done GHMC staff
— Arvind Soni (@Arvindsoni910) August 31, 2017
Great Job Changing Telangana.all credit to @KTRTRS
— Kailash Tiwari (@kailasht143) August 31, 2017
Giving a Human touch in work sphere is a crown on Head. Good work the staff of GHMC.
— S.D.Madhukar (@111_madhu) August 31, 2017
Good job ghmc and ktr garu
— KESHAVA RAO GATREDDI (@sivakesav7) August 31, 2017