Hyderabad: The garbage stuck in the major manhole at Punch Mohalla near Charminar is responsible for the sewage overflow near the historic Charminar.
Officials blamed vendors and nearby hotels while issuing notices to hotels to construct a slit chamber.
Hundreds of visitors come to see the Charminar. This weekend was particularly problematic for those visiting the heritage structure. Tourists as well as vendors alike were seen covering their noses as they were upset with the authorities for the poor maintenance of such a tourist spot. Visitors were wondering if this was representative of the lofty campaign with the slogan of ‘Saaf Hyderabad, Shandaar Hyderabad’.
Instead, they found large puddles near Charminar.
Locals near Charminar say, the sewage was overflowing since Monday. The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage contained this overflow only on Saturday.
Speaking on the issue, HMWSSB General Manager Division-1 Khader Mohiuddin said that the sewerage overflow occurred due to the garbage stuck in a manhole near the Punch Mohalla which then made its way towards Charminar. They found that the overflow contained waste from hotels and vendors who throw garbage on roads.
This trash only ended up in the manhole.
“To control the overflowing near the historic Charminar, HMWSSB also issued notices to the nearby hotels and instructed them to construct a slit chamber at their hotels instead of directly connecting their outlets to manholes. This overflow is a result of the choking of wastage and garbage in manholes,” he added.
“The officers must take action against these vendors and hotel management for throwing their garbage on roads, which blocks the manholes,” complains a visitor named Mohammed Yousuf. Mohiuddin further said,”
As soon as they found the cause of the overflow, they rushed to the site. The issue was rectified with normalcy restored around 9 pm.”
“The issue can be attributed to the huge garbage stuck in a manhole. Another major reason was the manhole cover which got buried due to the laying of BT roads,” he added. He said that due to the repeated laying of the BT roads, the manhole cover was buried.
To solve the issue, an almost 9-inch a layer of the road got dug up to fix the problem.
“BT roads are laid out during the night hours without informing the HMWSSB. Besides GHM officers, they are asked to inform HMWSSB officials too whenever a road is being laid,” said the General Manager.