If there was one thing I thought we had gotten rid of in the last decade, it was bad roads. Anyone visiting Hyderabad from out of town couldn’t stop gushing about how superbly well done they were across the city. Even driving through the Old City, long seen as a perennial civic calamity, had become a smooth ride.
Alas, all that seems to have been undone in the past two years. Hyderabad today feels like a cesspool of potholes and floods. Be it in person, on social media, or in online forums, everyone seems to agree—and the consensus is to lay the blame on Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.
I wouldn’t have made much of it, after all, we are used to bad roads and endless delays in civic works. But unfortunately for the current government, people in Hyderabad had almost gotten used to better civic amenities. Now, the public grumpiness is rather palpable.
Add to that, in the last few weeks, people living along the banks of the Musi River have seen their homes flooded due to heavy rains. The government had promised to evacuate those living in such vulnerable areas, but so far, nothing seems to have changed.
‘Future City’ is a mess
Amid all of this, CM Reddy laid the foundation of what his government calls ‘Bharat Future City’ two days ago, where he said something rather amusing. Seeking a 10-year mandate, he claimed that anyone coming to Hyderabad from New York (and other global cities) would be talking about this ‘Future City’.
But I’m wondering if visitors to this new project will have to navigate Hyderabad’s terrible roads, or will there be a special access route? As things stand, the city is in rough shape. Not only are the roads bad, but in August, Hyderabad also witnessed a mass internet outage after the electricity department cut dangling cables from its poles.
They had a valid reason, but imagine living in a city where you’re calling global investors, only for the internet to go down because the government decided some cables couldn’t hang.
Interestingly, the Jubilee Hills Assembly seat is also up for a by-election. The area has been won by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) twice before. Despite being in power, the Congress is unlikely to have an easy fight, given that it currently does not enjoy a good reputation in Hyderabad on infrastructure issues.
In fact, whenever a new party wins an election and forms a government, immediate changes are often visible. Development and sprucing up of the areas where chief ministers live or work is common.
Revanth Reddy’s house is in the posh area of Jubilee Hills, and he also frequently visits the Integrated Command and Control Centre of the Hyderabad Police in Banjara Hills— areas that are closely linked. Surprisingly, the roads in both localities are now in a terrible state.
The massive traffic jams in these areas, which lead to HITEC City, are often a result of bad roads. Roads that were once functioning fine now seem completely neglected.
Also read: BJP’s ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’ distorts 1948. It wasn’t a Hindu uprising against a Muslim
I’m not even going into other issues, but I sincerely wonder how the state government plans to build a world-class ‘Bharat Future City’ when it can’t even provide basic infrastructure—the very foundation of a great city. That means good connectivity, clean streets, public convenience, mindful access for commuters, and space for pedestrians to walk safely.
Hyderabad is also a terrible city for people who want to walk because we barely have any usable footpaths. The last time I checked, it was under 10 per cent. In most developed cities, walking spaces given, which doesn’t seem to be a priority for this government.
Of course, if you just want big companies to come and invest (which they will if they get resources for cheap), that can happen. But if this government wants to build a real global city, it needs to start acting like a government that cares about its people and infrastructure.
Yunus Lasania is a Hyderabad-based journalist whose work primarily focuses on politics, history and culture. He tweets @YunusLasania. Views are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)