Nala had no barricade to prevent an accident
The apathy of Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) officials and a contractor claimed the life of a seven-year-old boy in Bowenpally. The private agency, which has been executing nala widening works, did not erect barricades as a preventive measure.
Adding to this, the residents did not construct a compound wall, which could have prevented Anand Sai from entering the nala.
Anand’s family blamed SCB authorities and contractors for their negligence. Rajesh, one of the family members, said that the blue sheets erected around the open nala were damaged and had been washed out due to the recent rains and authorities never bothered to re-erect either blue sheets, barricades or a warning board.
Heart-wrenching scenes were reported when the boy’s parents took his body to Osmania Hospital for postmortem. A police case was registered against contractor Srinivas and the investigation is on.
Surprisingly, no SCB official responded to the incident. They neither reached the spot nor provided information about the contractor.
Meanwhile, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) neglected the widening and capping works of city nalas despite minister K.T. Rama Rao’s instructions last September. He gave these instructions after a 12year-old Sumedha Kapuria, who was riding on her bicycle near her house at Neredmet, fell into the nala that was flooded with rainwater and was washed away.
The minister instructed officials that capping works should be executed on nalas which were less than two metres wide. Officials were asked to prepare a timebound action plan. He also accorded administrative sanction of `300 crore to take up capping works to avoid any untoward incidents in the city. However, his instructions fell in deaf ears.
As on date, corporation authorities have only managed to complete 15 per cent of a total of 382 works. Some officials are hand-in-glove with contractors. Despite inviting tenders thrice, 90 per cent of contractors did not even participate in the bidding process.