Rain leaks through roof at Charminar Unani hospital; GHMC neglected Old City, says Congress

Hyderabad: Heavy rains on Thursday in Hyderabad put the patients at an Unani hospital in Charminar in a tough spot when rainwater entered the wards and the labour room.

The roof of the maternity ward, the labour room, and other important places on the hospital premises started leaking. The hospital staff had to shift the patients to other rooms to avoid the leaks.

The doctors at the Unani hospital said that no aid has been sanctioned to fix these issues even after they had sent multiple requests to the health minister Harish Rao asking for aid.

Most of the rooms including Pathology lab saw rain water leakages.

Congress blames GHMC for road cloggings

Reacting to the rains and road cloggings, Hyderabad District Congress Committee (DCC) president Sameer Waliullah, who had visited the rain-affected areas, said that the recent rains have exposed the negligence of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in maintaining the city’s infrastructure, particularly in the Old City.

‘Corporators nowhere to be seen’

Sameer said that the GHMC had failed to take adequate measures to prevent flooding, despite receiving alerts from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).

“The roads are in a state of disrepair, and the drainage system is clogged with garbage. This has led to widespread flooding, which has caused immense suffering to the residents,” Sameer said. He was accompanied by Charminar constituency in-charge Mujeebullah Shareef and Youth Congress leader Aslam Shareef.

The Congress leader interacted with the residents who expressed their worries and helplessness in dealing with the situation. They have expressed their anger over the lack of response from local corporators. “The MIM, BJP and BRS corporators of the Old City are nowhere to be seen in helping the rain-affected people. The MIM MLAs have not even visited the affected areas,” he alleged.

‘Helplines not working’

Sameer said that the residents have complained that the helplines are not working or that calls are not being answered. Even when calls are answered, the problems are often not addressed, he said. This has left many feeling helpless and frustrated.

In addition, the GHMC was supposed to ban the digging of roads in the Old City. However, this was not followed, and as a result, there are now numerous pits that have been left open. These pits pose a serious danger to pedestrians and motorists, and have already caused several accidents, he said.

“The GHMC’s negligence is unacceptable, and it is clear that they are not taking the safety of residents seriously. The helplines need to be fixed, and the pits need to be filled immediately. Until this is done, residents will continue to be at risk. The GHMC has completely abdicated its responsibility of providing basic amenities to the people,” he said. “This is a clear case of negligence, and the people of the Old City will not forget this,” he said.

“The people of the Old City are feeling abandoned and helpless. We demand that the government take immediate action to provide relief to the people,” he said.