Hyderabad: The Union Ministry of Tourism has given the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation the National Award for the best civic management at tourist destinations in the twin cities.
However, if one visits any of these tourist destinations, one will find sanitation and hygiene at these places are totally lacking. The municipal corporation does it best to keep places of tourist interest clean, but visitors invariably undo these efforts. The GHMC does provide toilets, but these are poorly maintained and quite often the approach to the tourist places is also poorly maintained.
On the day the corporation was selected for the best civic maintenance award, the open drain a few yards away from Shilparamam, the arts and craft village Hitec City was overflowing and continues to do so.
The Rs 100 crore Charminar pedestrian project is still in limbo, and the hundreds of street vendors, who generate close to four metric tonnes of solid waste around the Charminar, are still much in evidence.
A private review page on Hyderabad where tourists have written their complaints, states: Most parts of the city don’t have footpaths, and where available they are not used properly. Shopping malls are built beautifully, but many of them have a flawed parking facility. Malls also cause terrific traffic jams. Over 50 per cent of auto rickshaws in the city don’t charge according to the meter, but demand whatever they want.
“Open urination is the prime concern at tourist destinations. It is worse in places that see a high footfall. It is not just provision of toilets, they must also be properly maintained. Unless the toilets are neat, the tourist is reluctant to use them. Men defecate openly and most women hold their bladder,” said Jaswin Kaur, a tourist who visited the city recently. The official statement of GHMC mentions that, “A detailed note about the activities taken up in various categories for the overall development of the city, based on the information and service given by the GHMC the award has been announced.”
