Open drain poses health issues to Rama Rao Nagar residents

Instead of a road, they have an open drain right in front of their homes, flush with sewage water and heaps of garbage.

Hyderabad: Every morning, residents of Rama Rao Nagar in Borabanda wake up to a nightmare. As they open their doors and windows to let in the morning light, the repugnant stink that comes with it is a reminder of their living condition.

Instead of a road, they have an open drain right in front of their homes, flush with sewage water and heaps of garbage. With residential buildings on either side of this drain, over 50 families are forced to live surrounded by filth – plastic waste, leftover food, animal feces, and all kinds of trash that belong in a dump yard. It’s an eyesore.

“We see that everyone complains about roads in their colonies not being swept. But we don’t even have a road, we have an open drain,” says Lakshmi, one of the residents in the area. Work on the drain began under the Strategic Nala Development Program around three months ago, but locals inform that it was halted.

“There is a constant smell all day and night. Whatever we cook, it becomes stale quickly and kids refuse to eat with that smell. Several people have fallen ill and many have regular vomitings. People from other areas come and dump their waste in front of our houses, ” adds Lakshmi.

Apart from the consistent health issues and the unsanitary conditions, the open drain which stretches around 200 metres is also posing significant danger to the residents. Although a part of it is barricaded, much of it remains unfenced. In an attempt to cover it up, metal rods were intertwined over the open drain. However, the work remained unfinished with the jagged edges of the rods left behind.

“If we want to come out of our houses, we have no other way than to walk along these drains. To cross over to the other side, there is just a narrow slab. A lot of people fell into this drain. Kids and elders are living here. Who is responsible if someone gets hurt or dies after falling in that drain?” asks an aggrieved Uma Devi.

When asked about the incomplete work, officials in the engineering department of the GHMC informed that there were no bids for the tender they issued. They have recalled the tender to cover up the drain, and said they hope someone takes up this time.

“There is a constant smell all day and night. Whatever we cook, it becomes stale. Multiple people have fallen ill with regular vomiting.”

– Lakshmi

“A lot of people fell into this drain. Kids and elders are living here. Who is responsible if someone gets hurt or dies after falling in that drain? ”

– Uma Devi

“It is not just sewage water. There is a lot of garbage. Too many mosquitoes and insects.”

– Satyanarayana