Hyderabad: Bapu Ghat located on the bank of River Musi at Langer Houz is undergoing a hectic cleaning up operation as the world would be celebrating the Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary on October 2.
Chief Minister of Telangana K Chandrasekhar Rao would be visiting the Ghat to pay floral tributes to the Mahatma. The visit of the chief minister is part of an annual ritual.
According to people living in the area, the Ghat remains in a state of utter neglect all through the year. The officials and cleaners are seen only in the last week of September to make the Ghat look okay to the VIPs.
When this reporter of siasat.com visited the Ghat on Monday morning what he saw was large tracts of hyacinth, encroachments and dirty smelling part of the river.
“Every year we wait for Gandhi Jayanti because we know that the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) would start cleaning up the surroundings of Bapu Ghat. They undertake cleaning only because they know that place will be visited by the chief minister and other dignitaries,” said Shravan, a resident of the area close to Bapu Ghat.
“If you happen to visit this place during any other time of the year you would find the riverbank filled with human feces, piles of garbage and plastic waste. The river too is filled with hyacinth,” he added.
According to Pruthvi Raj, another resident of the area, “This year, a concrete ramp has been built into the river which has changed its natural course. A lot of people dump garbage into the river. Also, truckloads of debris are emptied here.”
The meditation hall located next to the statue of Gandhiji which boasts of numerous photographs of Bapu remains closed throughout the year.
As per the revenue records, Bapu Ghat is spread over 68 acres. A large portion of it has been encroached up. But the government agencies are unaware of how much land is under illegal occupation.
Till 2002, Bapu Ghat was maintained by the Roads and Buildings department. Later it was handed over to the Tourism Development Corporation.
Authored by Mohammed Hussain, mohammedhussain.reporter@gmail.com Twitter: @writetohussain