Angry with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation's (GHMC) decision to convert a notified park into a giant dumping ground, residents in Nallagandla have taken their fight online.
It was supposed to be one of the biggest parks in the area around a decade ago, but Rock Garden in Nallagandla area, has instead become a segregation site for the GHMC.
More than a year after their pleas fell on deaf ears, citizens have now started an online campaign called 'Save Nallagandla Park'.
As part of the campaign, they even started a petition on Change.org, which already has close to 1,000 signatures at the time of writing.
"This segregation/transfer site has been moved from one place to another in the area since the last few years. However, in the last two years, the situation has worsened with pollution and stench caused by huge load of waste dumped on the site on daily basis," the petition reads.
"This waste storage site is illegal and is a violation of basic principles of municipal health administration," the petition goes on to argue.
Listing out the issues that they faced, the residents also put forward some demands.
Besides putting an end to dumping waste at the spot, the citizens demanded an environmental impact study to assess pollution of air, water (surface and ground water) and soil, through Telangana State Pollution Control Board.
They also wanted a health impact study initiated on the local population due to the waste segregation unit.
"Order an inquiry into the encroachment of the park and violation of waste site establishment procedures and fix liability of relevant officials for risking health of children, pregnant women, old and other people," the citizens demanded.
Residents have been fighting against the move for long, as the GHMC has been repeatedly stating that this is only a 'temporary arrangement' and it has been looking for alternatives.
The area has several communities surrounding it, with five projects by the Aparna Group and one project by the Ramky Group, besides several smaller communities and independent houses.
Another result of the dumping ground, is that all the roads in the area are broken, due to large trucks constantly travelling on them.
Once in a while, residents say that the segregation unit has also burnt garbage, despite assurance from the authorities that they would keep track of it.
The petition to ‘Save Nallagandla Park from GHMC's stinking hub’, can be found here.