For months now, residents in certain parts of Hyderabad have been crying themselves hoarse over the state of the city's roads, or rather the lack of them.
But some roads in Secunderabad feel like a trip in a desert as a permanent layer of dust is kicked up by passing vehicles and generally engulfs the area.
Areas like Sainikpuri, Defence Colony, Safilguda and Neredmet, have several missing roads.
It was in 2014, a few months after the state was formed, that officials cleaned up the streets, laid new roads and decorated the entire area with huge cut outs of various TRS leaders.
The reason? A VIP visit.
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao laid the foundation of the multi-crore Telangana Water Grid project at Defence Colony near Sainikpuri in Secunderabad on November 1, 2014.
At the time, the government said that it would complete the project in a record time of three-and-a-half months.
(A wire sticks out of the middle of a road in Defence Colony)
Two years on, the pipelines have been laid in some areas while work still continues in some parts. However, roads have not been re-laid in any of these areas.
While a recent visit by the Mayor Bonthu Rammohan, did prompt local officials to lay fresh roads near Neredmet, the work is only being restricted to the main roads.
A turn into any bylane, reveals deteriorating mud and stones that were once tar and cement.
(The road in front of the Neredmet police station)
Last month, a road in one of the bylanes caved in when a truck was parked on it. At present, the same pit is collecting stagnant water, and has become a potential breeding ground for mosquitoes.
The entire stretch from Neredmet to the Safilguda lake park is almost life-threatening.
The stretch near the Safilguda railway crossing where goods train pass, is covered with a layer of stones that the authorities have left to the commuters to flatten.
The area sees multiple instances of motorists skidding and autos almost getting overturned due to large stones.
Barring one stretch in Vinayak Nagar which does have a new road, large parts of the area have only half a road, as the other half was dug up for laying pipes and covered with mud.
The road adjacent to Safilguda Lake Park, once dubbed Hyderabad's 'Mini Tank Bund', is downright pathetic.
Though it is an arterial road in Secunderabad, connecting one of the most populated suburbs in the city to various parts of Hyderabad, official apathy seems at its worst here.
Things are so bad that there have been complaints of car axles breaking and people moving their shops due to the dust.
City residents, who are already finding it difficult to breathe, are only suffering more in this area.
This week, the state government has taken a decision to start digging roads in various other suburbs of the city.
The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) has stated that the digging is going to be done for a pipeline project, and has taken a loan of Rs 1,900 crore to lay 2,500 km of pipelines for the water supply.
While the plan is ambitious and much-needed, taking the above areas into example, the reader is free to take a guess on when the roads will be re-laid.
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