While netizens have flooded Twitter and Facebook with their woes on rain-battered roads and the overflowing sewage in Hyderabad, Hayathnagar corporator S Tirumala Reddy took to a novel protest on Thursday to register his anger against the callousness of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).
Upset with GHMC officials for not laying underground drainage pipelines despite submitting several representations to the authorities, the ruling TRS corporator entered a sump and squatted in the filth until the authorities agreed to his demands.
Speaking to TNM, S Tirumala Reddy said that he has registered many complaints with the authorities in the GHMC for the past two years against the pathetic conditions of the sewerage system in his corporation. “There is already an outlet main line and trunk line, and only some 200 metres of pipeline need to be laid to connect it to the main line. But for last two years, the GHMC has not laid the line. The sewage overflows on to the road and residents are unable to use to road due to the foul smell emanating from the sewerage,” Reddy said.
Three colonies in his division – Padmalaya Colony, Mythrivanam and Mythri Kutir – have no underground drainage and all the sewage overflows on to the roads, and collect in an open place where a large number of pigs and other animals cause hardships to the local residents.
In his protest that began at 11 in the morning, Reddy squatted inside a sump with few other corporators standing on the sides. Soon, a crowd gathered asking the corporator to get up from amidst the filth and dirt. Refusing to budge, Reddy sat inside the sump for the next 3-4 hours until officials from the GHMC reached the spot and addressed the issue.
“I was at my wits end. Every day, people who voted for me would complain about the filth outside their homes. Despite being a member of the ruling party and making several representations, none of the engineers from the GHMC took heed of the situation. Around 110 houses from three colonies in Hayathnagar have been bearing the stench for the past two years,” Reddy told TNM.
On Thursday, while laying the foundation stone for the Botanical Garden underpass, KTR was quoted saying that citizens need to bear with the bad roads as they were dug up for ‘development activities’.
Responding to KTR’s comment, Reddy said that funds are in plenty for Hayathnagar but it is the GHMC engineers who are stalling the development works in the locality. “KTR has given funds in plenty to clean up the mess in Hayathnagar. But it is the laxity of the GHMC engineers that has caused the problem to aggravate. Development is not possible if the civic body doesn’t corporate with the state authorities,” Reddy said.
Talking to TNM, Ravindra, executive engineer with GHMC, said that the issue has been addressed and an estimate sheet has been sent to the zonal commissioner. “As soon as we get the approval from the civic body, repair works will begin,” he added.
Tirumala Reddy has hit headlines earlier too when a video of him dancing to the tunes of a loud music played from his car along with his assistants in the middle of the Srisailam-Hyderabad highway went viral on social media last year. He was also rapped by a child rights organisation in the city for engaging an 11-year-old in clearing a water logged stretch in Hayathnagar after heavy rains lashed the city in May this year.