HYDERABAD: The incessant recent rains that battered the city have further deteriorated the already crumbling roads in Secunderabad Cantonment area. Blaming the apathy of officials, residents claim that the condition of Cantonment roads have gone from bad to worse. Turning a blind eye to the issue, the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) officials, who were supposed to complete the road repair work before the onset of monsoon, claim that they cannot do anything until the monsoon ends.
“Before monsoon, we were able to repair only 30 per cent of the roads and the rains have damaged those roads as well. Now we are waiting for the monsoon to get over so that we can take up repair works,” J Ramakrishna, vice president of SCB, said. Sai Prasad from Vasavi Nagar said that the problem is not only with arterial roads, but roads connecting highways are also riddled with potholes.
Claiming that the SCB officials were making false promises, T Satish, president of the Secunderabad Welfare Association, said, “Due to the bad roads, several accidents are taking place, and if the condition of roads is not improved, some major accident is likely to happen. We have complained several times, but the officials keep telling us that they will start the road repair work soon.”
Besides bad roads, defunct street lights in many parts of the Cantonment area are adding to the woes of residents. Many are finding it difficult to travel on the roads during night time as there are no street lights in many parts of the area. Though SCB officials boast of having installed 65,000 street lights with LED bulbs, many of the LED street lights are lying dysfunctional in many parts including Lalbazar, Old Vasavi Nagar and Jyothi colony, to mention a few. Speaking to Express, Ramakrishna said, “We do not have proper funds. The condition is so bad that we cannot even pay the pending salaries of our contractor.”