The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : ‘Homes at Afzalsagar no good’

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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

‘Homes at Afzalsagar no good’

Swathi.V

Whatever be the court’s decision we will go back, say erstwhile residents of Bheemraobada
Safety is a concern in the locality, more so for women returning late in night

– Photo: G. Krishnaswamy

Problems galore: Bheemraobada dwellers find new residence at Afzalsagar devoid of basic amenities.

HYDERABAD: Over a week after the evictions, the erstwhile residents of Bheemraobada are yet to come to terms with the calamity that befell them. From their new homes at Afzalsagar, they ponder over taking the bull by its horns and winning back their land, rather than about rebuilding their fragmented lives.

“There is no life here. Whatever be the court’s decision, we will go back,” they say in unison.

The disgruntlement is as much about the practical difficulties they are facing at the new location, as it is about losing their 90-year-old settlement to the Indira Bhavan. Transportation to their respective places of work has become especially cumbersome in view of the remoteness of the new housing colony.

K. Shantha, for example, finds the separation unbearable. Born, brought up, married and having borne both her children at Bheemraobada, she yet does not display any signs of nostalgia.

What she talks about are plain facts.

“Earlier, I would walk down to the homes I worked in at Chirag Ali Lane. Now it is not possible. I need to walk the distance of a kilometre even for a bus or a share auto, get down at Nampally, and walk beyond a kilometre. What’s more, share autos do not operate early in the morning,” she says.

Frequency of any bus is one in an hour and share autos charge over Rs.5 per trip. Cost of transportation becomes unworkable in their meagre incomes. Another occupational hindrance is in the shift-hours. It is usual for a domestic help to return home by noon, and go back to work in the evening, which is not possible now for obvious reasons.

Safety is another concern in the shoddy locality, more so for women returning late in night.

“My daughter, an employee of Big Bazaar stopped going to work. She finds it unsafe to walk home after 8 p.m., due to the narrow, winding streets and absence of streetlights. Our earlier home was safer,” P. Balalakshmi says.

It is even more difficult for E. Devamani, a contract sweeper at Andhra Bank at Koti. Starting by 5 a.m., she gets barked at by dogs in the Dhobighat en route.

While coming back, she has to walk over a kilometre till Moazzamjahi Market for a share auto.

A third of her salary is spent on transportation.

“Majority of us are sitting at home after the evictions. We will not find any work here because the whole locality is occupied by poor people who can ill afford a domestic help,” says E. Urmila, another evictee.

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