Birthday Tragedy Exposes Contradictions Of Tank Bund Celebrations

A six‑year‑old girl who had gone with her family to Tank Bund to celebrate her birthday was killed late Sunday night when a speeding lorry struck her during a road crossing. Her 41‑year‑old relative Viswanath also died in the collision. The deaths have returned attention to a contradiction that has been building along the lakefront for years: families and young people use Tank Bund as a free, after‑hours place to meet and celebrate, even as cake cutting remains prohibited and the same stretch continues to have moving traffic, parked vehicles and pedestrians crossing between the road and the lake.

“Whatever space is there, it is commercialised and very expensive. As a result, people come to this common area because they can’t afford a hotel,” said Donthi Narasimha Reddy, a Hyderabad‑based public policy expert. He noted that many residential areas lack community halls, while smaller homes leave families little room to gather.

The Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU) says its cab and auto drivers on Tank Bund often encounter pedestrians crossing unexpectedly, roadside parking, poor visibility and headlight glare after dark, while the 2023 prohibition on cake cutting has failed to stop celebrations there.

Late working hours also push leisure into the night. “Not everybody has to keep their shop open, but if some businesses, public spaces, shopping outlets and services remain open, people whose work finishes late can benefit,” said Ranjith Kumar Duguntla, co‑founder and director of operations at Swatantrata, who has worked on proposals around Hyderabad’s 24×7 economy. He said late‑night commerce needs labour protections, security and medical support.

B.T. Srinivasan disagreed that a shortage of public spaces alone explains Tank Bund’s popularity. “There are several places, including gardens and Indira Park, near Tank Bund. People want the view of the water and the night lighting. That is what attracts them to Tank Bund,” said Srinivasan, secretary general of the Confederation of Resident Welfare Associations (CoRWA).

Public accounts show that concerns about crossing Tank Bund predate Sunday’s accident. Hyderabad police introduced a pedestrian‑operated signal there in 2023, allowing pedestrians roughly 15 to 20 seconds to cross after traffic stopped. However, drivers have described stopping at the signal while other vehicles continued moving.

Srinivasan said the city must accept that people will continue to celebrate at popular public places and regulate where that happens. “There should be a common place where people can have these birthday celebrations, not everywhere they want,” he said. His written follow‑up proposed designated birthday and photo areas away from moving vehicles, parking bays, pedestrian railings, signal‑controlled crossings, refuge islands and better lighting. He also called for traffic police patrols between 8 pm and 3 am on weekends, towing or challans for illegally stopped vehicles and action against speeding.

Sanitation workers said they cleared cake, foam, colour‑smoke sticks and liquor bottles after such celebrations. “People need to be educated about what happens when plastic is dumped openly and about this throwaway culture,” Narasimha Reddy said, adding that he wants neighbourhoods to regain common spaces where families can meet without paying commercial rates.

“Once you create that within their neighbourhood, I don’t think they will travel all the way to Tank Bund,” Narasimha Reddy said.