Hyderabad slums deteriorate, turn into open toilets

HYDERABAD: Children and men are spotted defecating openly, majorly outside slums, oblivious of the fact that they are spreading diseases like typhoid, dengue and malaria.

In a way, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has to be blamed because it has not built public toilets or provided basic amenities in a majority of slum areas.

Though the civic body attained open defecation-free (ODF) city status by producing false reports to the Centre, the harsh reality exposes the sordid side of the authorities.

The city has already slipped to 37 position in the recent Swachh rankings and it could slip further down if things continue to remain the same. Drainage water flows four times a week in the slum areas and garbage is not picked up on a daily basis either.

Additional commissioner (health), GHMC, B. Santosh claimed that they are providing basic amenities like sanitation, electricity, public toilets and birth and death certificates.

Apart from zero public toilets to electricity being snapped 10 times a day, the slums dwellers have to live without any streetlights as most are nonfunctional.

According to M.S. Maktha slum president, Shaik Shareef, “People have built their own toilets in their houses. A boy died a few years back because he came in contact with transformers that were left open, yet no action has been taken. The lanes have become khula shauchalay.”

According to another resident Adnan Ahmed, cases of typhoid, malaria, dengue and jaundice are mounting by the day. “We are getting water supply only for one or two hours a day. Dirty water is supplied in the first twenty to thirty minutes. There is no proper sewage treatment,” said Fouzia Begum from BJR Nagar slum.

Residents of Hamali Basti do have a public toilet built for them. However, it is not used because it is not clean and is filled with flies.