Hyderabad: Areas under the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) are deprived of emergency response services during heavy downpours.
This monsoon season, the city has been overwhelmed by the rains. Waterlogged streets and colonies, inundated roads, and the overflowing of drains have been common occurrences over the past few months.
During the time of trouble, residents of the areas within the limits of the SCB have been left to handle the situation by themselves, with no immediate help from the authorities.
The SCB is not equipped with emergency response teams that can be deployed to provide relief measures as soon as locals call for help. Neither does it have a centralised mechanism to receive calls round-the-clock and pass on information to the relevant officials and teams so that they may respond with the necessary tools and equipment.
Nagubandi Venkata Ramana, a resident of Malani Enclave in Trimulgherry, says that the SCB has failed to provide its residents basic amenities.
“I have registered over 30 complaints regarding civic problems on their toll-free number 040-21112111 over the past few years. But the number is not a helpline; it is only a messenger service. Complaints are noted down and complainants are given docket numbers, but there is no follow-up action taken.
The SCB has no centralised mechanism to attend to emergency complaints, especially those filed during the heavy rainfall. Residents are left to their own devices. The area under the SCB is very much a part of the city. However, the emergency services available within the GHMC limits are far better. The SCB is yet to develop such a mechanism,” he says.
He cites the example of the citizens of Haryana going to court demanding the dissolution of their local body for failing to provide basic amenities and services despite collecting taxes. He says that it is time for people to file a similar appeal against the SCB as well.
N.L.N. Reddy, a senior professor who lives in Ward 1, says that water from the Ramannakunta Lake enters residential colonies in wards 1 and 6 whenever there is a heavy downpour.
