Ajay Moses By

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: The one thing that equally greets the 2 lakh-odd residents in every colony of Serilingampally ward is the unbearable mosquito menace. The evenings are so horrific that the helpless local residents stay indoors.

“We can hardly get to sit or even stand outside our homes during evenings. It has been ages since fogging machines have been used to keep the mosquito menace at bay,” complained a resident who is also a Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) sanitation assistant of Rajiv Gruha Kalpa. “Forget the use of bleaching powder to stop the growth of larvae, the office has no supply of it,” he added.

Meanwhile, a quick look at the bylanes of several of colonies bring to light the overflowing drains, in some parts, the untreated Gopi Cheruvu, water stagnated on the roads and garbage strewn along the Lingamplly railway road. The prevailing conditions in the division have put a multiplier effect on the increase of mosquito menace.

The enraged residents blame the lackadaisical attitude of the sanitation department for not cleaning the garbage on time, which has led to the ever-increasing filth in the local lakes.The situation has continued despite the corporator voicing to fight against the ill-effects of malaria in the ward through better sanitation methods.

“We have given representations to clean Gopi Cheruvu and the other small water bodies but nothing concrete has been decided on it by GHMC,” said R Nagendar Yadav, corporator of Serilingampally.

Meanwhile, Rupesh Dubey, president of Dubey colony welfare association, said that the corporator has been cooperative on several fronts but there has been a serious delay in the release of funds by the government.

“A sum of `13 lakh worth of road projects are yet to commence in our colony. It has been four months already but the government has not yet released any funds,” he said.Colonies such as Pappi Reddy Colony, Nehru Nagar, Gopi Nagar, and Lingampally have been plagued with this menace. Meanwhile, the corporator has teamed with an MNC, Cyient, to build schools that are accessible to weaker sections of people like Surabhi colony and Rajiv Gruha Kalpa.

“Personally, I invested `30 lakh to see that free education is imparted to the children,” Yadav said. Meanwhile, about 1,000 residents residing in Bombay housing scheme complain that they get water once in four days.