A State of Failure

All takes is one rain to remind us that despite all the talk of being a modern hitech city, we are still stuck in the annals of history, specially our sewers. A 10 mm rain is enough to flood the roads, drive water into parking area of apartments and makes our life a hell.

And like every other year, the GHMC makes tall claims that the drains have silted, and the emergency teams are in place to tackle any emergency. One small rain and all those claims get washed down the drain. All the money meant to remove silt are pocketed by the GHMC officials and corrupt contractors. Another reason that is often touted by many of the babudom is that most of the drains in the twin cities were laid during the Nizam’s rule. Which means that nothing was spent in the last 62 years to improve the drains in the city? So where did the so called budget that is often announced year on year go? Where is the property tax that is paid by the citizens go?

The state of affairs of GHMC cannot be viewed in isolation. It is just another symptom of our devil may care attitude of our civic authorities. Why a city like London with narrower roads than Hyderabad are maintained well. Or for that matter how a city like New York is kept ticking by its Mayor and his team? There is something called an accountability in these cities. The civic staff in developed countries know that their job is dependent on the citizens whom they serve. Here once a government servant gets a job, he keeps it for life – whether he works or not. There is no system to hold anyone accountable in this country. So if someone falls into a manhole or a car gets submerged in parking lot, the GHMC team is safe. No one can touch them.

Is there are a way you or me can change the system. Yes, we can. By relentlessly following up on unkept promises, civic problems and ensuring that GHMC staff do their job, for which they have been appointed and paid a salary. The GHMC staff is not doing us a favour, they are just doing their job. Or supposed to do their job. Write in to kochattil@gmail.com about any civic problem you are facing. If you have any picture of the problem, mail that along. I will ensure that the issue is taken up with the right people and resolved.