Inept GHMC field-level officers impacting civic governance
Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) plays a crucial role in managing urban governance and infrastructure development in Hyderabad’s core. However, the civic body is beset with monumental challenges across sanitation and public health, bad roads, waste management, flooding and sewage problems, streetlights, lackadaisical approach of the field-level officers, administrative bottlenecks and the mother of them all-corruption.
Spread over six zones and 150 wards in its jurisdiction, GHMC covers 689 sq.km in the city’s central and southern parts. While the city has been growing at a fast pace with skyscrapers and flyovers, GHMC continues to draw flak and outright condemnation for the loathsome poor sanitation, dreadful sewage overflow and deplorable conditions of roads.
Directly affecting public health and environmental standards, sanitation remains one of the most critical challenges faced by the civic body. In many areas, especially densely populated neighbourhoods, garbage accumulated on streets and in open spaces remains an eyesore. Almost in unison, the residents blame erratic collection of door-to-door garbage and an equally atrocious waste clearance from streets.
The second biggest sanitation challenge pertains to drainage and sewage management. Many drainage systems are either outdated or clogged with debris. This results in stagnant water, foul odour, and breeding grounds for mosquitoes. In monsoon, these issues worsen and lead to urban flooding and increase the risk of waterborne diseases.
The never-ending sewerage overflow has led to unsanitary conditions, posing health risks and traffic disruption. The residents, especially in the south and central part of the city have been suffering due to overflowing irregular sewage water. Authorities remain unfazed when the locals want to know why no efforts are being made to resolve the sewage overflow issue.
Flooding during monsoon has been causing disruption to daily life and damaging property. Ye, the authorities have failed to prevent flooding during rains. One of the primaryreasons for flooding is the inadequate storm water drainage system. Many parts of the city rely on obsolete and undersized drains, which cannot handle heavy rainfall experienced during monsoon. This results in an accumulation of rainwater on roads, especially in low-lying areas, leading to massive water logging. Moreover, clogging of drains and manholes is another critical issue. Near absence of desilting is increasing the severity of flooding even after brief spells. Making it worse is encroachment of lakes and closing of outlet channels. Bad condition of roads is resulting in frequent traffic disruption. The commuters say driving through such roads has become a risky affair. Residents are subject to extreme inconvenience due to poor maintenance - potholed roads, damaged manholes, which are leading to accidents.
Be it residential colonies or main roads, people are taking detours to reach their workplaces and back home. The main roads in areas like Malakpet, Lakdikapul, Secunderabad, Khairatabad, Banjara Hills and other areas in Old City are in terrible condition. Ongoing construction works make it double whammy.
Experts say that the lackadaisical attitude of field-level officers is impacting civic governance. One of the key concerns is the failure of certain officers to follow instructions issued by senior authorities. A subject expert Mohammed Asif Sohail says that when directives are not properly executed, it creates a gap between planning and implementation on the ground.
When officers do not take responsibility for their duties or fail to adhere to instructions of the superiors, residents face delays in resolving complaints related to sanitation, drainage, roads, and other civic issues.To address these issues in letter and spirit, GHMC needs to strengthen the waste collection system, improve sanitation infrastructure, and conduct awareness campaigns. Collaboration with citizens, private agencies, and community organizations is essential to achieving sustainable sanitation improvements. There is an urgent need to upgrade drainage infrastructure, remove encroachments on water bodies, and ensure regular cleaning of drains, Asif Sohail says.
Incidentally, the civic issues have risen after the merger of surrounding municipalities and the subsequent trifurcation. This has slowed down the pace of work, especially in GHMC limits, which otherwise was running smoothly.
Many civic projects have been halted; numerous road and pipeline works are pending with GHMC even though they were sanctioned months ago. It is imperative that GHMC resolve the administrative bottlenecks.
