Nala deaths in global city of Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Hyderabad was adjudged as the most liveable city in India for five straight years, according to the Mercer Quality of Living Index. The state government, however, aimed higher to make it one of the top 25 most liveable cities globally.

Aiming to be a global city is no doubt a laudable goal. But before setting out such a grand vision, the government must focus on improving the basic necessities of people such as safety and security.

When people are getting killed by being sucked into manholes of drainage, Hyderabad could never truly become a global city. Recently, just an overnight rain turned the city roads into navigable streams, and led to the death of a four-year-old Mithun Reddy, who fell into an open nala at Pragathi Nagar on Tuesday.

This death, however, is not an isolated incident. On September 26, 2019, two priests travelling on a scooter slipped into a manhole at Chaitanyapuri. One of them was able to come out, but the other died.

On September 17, 2020, a 12-year-old girl named Sumedha Kapuria died falling into an open nala at Neredmet in Secunderabad. An 80-year-old woman, Saroja, who went for her morning walk slipped into an open nala at Gaddi Annaram, in
November 2020.

On June 6, 2021, an eight-year-old boy named Anand Sai slipped into an open nala in Bownepally  and died. In September 2021, a software engineer Rajanikanth died slipping into an open nala at Manikonda when he was out to procure curds.

A 10-year-old girl named Mounika died slipping into nala at Kalasiguda in Secunderabad in April 2023.

Hyderabad also has the tag of being one of the deadliest cities for walkers, as it stands at the seventh position in 53 cities in India, posing a threat to pedestrians.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau, in 2021, there were 97 pedestrian deaths in Hyderabad, and over 597 people sustained injuries.