Hyderabad: Rock Garden once a park, now a dumpyard

Hyderabad: What was once planned as the biggest park in Nallagandala has been encroached and turned into a dumpyard by the GHMC. The 12-acre Rock Garden was once a sought after location. Currently, thousands of families in the area live with garbage and pollution. 

About 7 acres of the park has turned into a transfer and segregation unit by the GHMC whose swach auto tippers daily bring in over 200 metric tonnes of waste from the Serlingampally circle.

“For years we were told that this is a temporary segregation unit. Now they have started building structures. If the area is designed for a park, how can they use it for dumping waste,” noted Mr Vivekanand Pandey, a resident of Ramky Cosmos Apartments. 

The HMDA layout showed the area earmarked for a park along with seven other smaller areas. 

However, the area is used as a dumpyard, where garbage is burnt frequently. The entire layout has a hospital, three major schools and big housing projects by Ramky and Aparna Constructions.

“The foul smell has left us caged in our homes all the day. Even our children are hit because of this foul smell” said Mr Uma Mahesh, a resident of Aparna Sarovar Grande.

GHMC officials, however, said that this is a temporary set up and will be shifted once an ideal location is finalised. 

A dumpyard or a transfer station cannot be in a residential area as it can lead to an outbreak, said a senior official in the sanitation department, who did not wish to be named. 

The hospital facing the dumpyard, creates further trouble.

Citizens have now started an online campaign called Dump the Dump Yard after multiple complaints to the GHMC fell on deaf ears.