Hyderabad: Stray pigs spark health scare

Hyderabad: The menace of straying pigs continues to irk residents of Trimulgherry. Residents complain that their representations to the Secunderabad Cantonment Board, verbal and written, have fallen on deaf ears.

The garbage and sewage lying in the dried up lake bed and the vacant plots in the colonies are providing the stray pigs with food. The pigs roam in large numbers, especially during the late evening hours when they even block the movement of vehicles on the streets.

Mr N. Venkata Ramana, a resident of Trimulgherry, says that the pig population has multiplied in the last three months “due to dumping of garbage and sewage into the Trimulgherry lake and in vacant plots. The pigs are lured to the garbage piles and they drag these trash covers onto the main road, littering the entire space."

It has been alleged that pig-keepers in Lal Bazaar let loose their pigs to graze on the streets. The dried up lake in Trimulgherry only gets sewage water from the nearby colonies.

A community hall in the vicinity has turned into a dumping yard, and this attracts mosquitoes and pigs.

The residents fear an increase in viral fever cases if the situation is not controlled. “We are worried that these pigs could be the carriers of diseases and infections. Our proximity to packs of pigs makes us vulnerable to viral fevers. In the evenings, children play at the nearby park and in the streets and they are the worst-affected,” said Mr Bala Chouri, general secretary of Malani Enclave.

Secunderabad Canton-ment Board officials were unavailable for comment. However, sources admitted unofficially that no special team has been formed to catch the stray pigs due to lack of staff, though there is such a team for stray dogs.