Hyderabad: The biggest inconvenience faced by the Musi Riverbed evictees from Moosa Nagar and Shankar Nagar at their new homes in the 2BHK apartment complex at Pilligudiselu in Chanchalguda is a water problem. They share this problem with those who have already been allotted the flats for alienating the original Pilligudiselu slum back in 2017.
The residents, both the older ones and the newcomers, tell Siasat.com that they are receiving water only for 10 minutes a day, that too without any prior information. “That water is insufficient even to fill a single drum,” remarked one such resident.
Apartments running on tankers
The apartment association has been getting 20 tankers daily (5,000 litre capacity each) to fill the sump located at the base of the ten-storeyed apartment complex.
Previously there were 141 households (many with multiple families) living there. After the Musi evictions in the last few days, an equal number of households have been shifted to this apartment complex which has a total of 288 flats in two blocks.
This resulted in an increased water demand, for which the temporary workaround has been to fill the sump with 20 tankers of water, which will be lifted to 10 floors using three motors and deliver the water in the eight overhead tanks located on the terrace.
However, there are two 1/2-inch drinking water pipelines, a 1-inch bore water pipeline, and the water tanker pipeline, whenever ordered, to feed the sump.
The water tanker delivery person tells Siasat.com that the sump can take more than 100 tankers of water, and the overhead tanks, along with the sump if filled to the brim, can be sufficient for consumption just for a few days.
He says that just around 15-20 metres away, there is the main Mission Bhagiratha drinking water pipeline (Krishna Phase-II) that runs just outside the boundary wall of the complex, and if a 2.5-inch pipeline connection is given to the sump from the main pipeline, the problem will be solved.
The problem with fixtures
The new residents arrived to see their windows broken, faulty electricity connections and some missing fixtures, not to mention the cracks in the walls on the ninth floor. Water doesn’t drain from some balconies despite there being an outlet which has somehow jammed.
The residents are employing electricians and plumbers and getting that work done, which is a burden on their already damaged economic lives due to the sudden shift.
Oldies versus newbies
The issue of old residents from the original Pilligudiselu slum objecting to new residents from Moosa Nagar and Shankar Nagar getting flats allotted in the apartment complex is a temporary one, subject to prompt allotment of flats to around 25 families from the slum who have been waiting for 2BHK house to be allotted to them since 2017.
Though the previous government had allotted flats to 141 original slum dwellers, there were around 25 families, mostly comprising the children of the slum household owners, who have not been allotted houses till now.
Despite several representations to the authorities by the corporators and the local MLA, no steps were taken to accommodate them, despite around 140 flats lying vacant for all these years, which the present government has given to the Musi evictees.
“We were told by our MLA that we would get houses allotted in the second list, but when I saw that my name wasn’t in the second list, I questioned him much before the Assembly elections last year. He told me that I would be accommodated. Now, after the election, he says that the government has changed and there is little that can be done,” says Saleha Begum, who is a domestic worker, and her husband is an auto driver.
The reason why she couldn’t get 2BHK allotted in 2017 was because she was living in her father’s ‘Jhopdi‘ which had collapsed in heavy rains. She started living as a tenant close to that area, and that was why she suddenly became an outsider in her own Basthi.
She has two daughters and two sons, and the couple has been paying Rs 10,500 rent, which is difficult to manage.
Hajerah, a mother of 12 children, is Salehah’s sister, who was allotted a house there in 2017. She is also a domestic worker and her husband delivers gas cylinders to households for a living. Four of her children got married and are settled well, thanks to 2BHK house allotment.
However, she has certain complaints against the newcomers.
“They are using the lift to shift luggage all the time, and their children can be seen using the lift just for fun, causing inconvenience to others. They are spitting Gutkha on the staircase and inside the lift. Yesterday, I went downstairs to fill my water bubbles and left them there after filling them up. I just went to a nearby shop and when I came back the bubbles were stolen. They could have used the water and left the empty bubbles instead,” she complained.
There is no enmity between the oldies and the newbies, but certain vested interests have been creating this rift for whatever their reason is.
The smart foxes who ate green and black grapes both
Those who have worked in basthis will know that some of them have houses elsewhere and have been renting out their ‘Jhopdis‘ in the Basthis. The same people, who got 2BHK allotted to them in 2017, gave the new flats allotted to them to the basthi dwellers, who have not been allotted houses till now.
“The government should knock on every door of this complex, find out who is the original owner living here. If somebody is renting their flat to someone else, the government should cancel their allotment and give it to the families waiting for a shelter since 2017,” Hajera suggested.
The problem presently is with 25 unsatisfied basthi dwellers, which is certain to increase to 50 families as those who were children have grown up in the last five years and got married. Even they need 2BHK houses now.
“If the state government wants, they can allot 2BHK houses lying vacant in Uppal, Uppuguda, Bandlaguda and other places. Accommodating 25-50 households will not be an issue,” Hajera underlined.
What the Gen Z feels
The children are very excited about their new homes, as always. The kids have found the apartment complex as a place where they can see and interact with other children on a daily basis, which is not limited to one ‘gully’ like in their previous habitation.
The teenagers too are happy, except for the inconvenience due to improper facilities.
Role of the NGOs
The NGOs have been holding meetings trying to explain how the lives of the basthi people will be affected after leaving their own houses. While there are valid points they raise, the responsibility of bringing peace between the oldies and the newbies (in the case of the Pilligudiselu 2BHK complex) lies with them.
In fact, it was suggested by the human rights activists to Musi Riverfront Development Corporation managing director Dana Kishore that NGOs needed to be roped in by the state government to facilitate the process (eviction or staying) so that harmony in the society doesn’t get adversely affected.
It is at this juncture, that their services are paramount to maintaining peace, suggesting the older residents who were empowered by the same NGOs not to alienate their houses but they still did.
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