Vinayak Nagar residents allege GHMC negligence as sewage floods Shaikpet-Manikonda road
HYDERABAD: A road-laying project in Vinayak Nagar, Shaikpet, was supposed to improve infrastructure. Instead, it has left residents facing overflowing sewage, broken manholes, and weeks of foul odour on the busy road connecting Shaikpet to Manikonda, Puppalguda, and Narsingi.
Residents and Social activist M Ajay Kumar said a GHMC road contractor operating a JCB machine damaged underground manholes during concrete road work. Debris, concrete, and stones fell into the sewer lines, causing severe blockages. GHMC and HMWS&SB did not act quickly to fix the problem. As a result, raw sewage spilled onto the main road for nearly a week.
In response, residents filed a complaint with HMWS&SB about sewage overflowing near the 5th left lane, opposite the Vinayak Nagar bus stop. The complaint reported sewage flowing onto the main Shaikpet-Manikonda road, but officials did not respond.
Ajay Kumar told HyderabadMail he repeatedly contacted the HMWS&SB Manager, Deputy General Manager, and General Manager over the past week. He requested inspections and urgent action as the blockage worsened.
Describing his efforts, Ajay Kumar said, “For nearly a week, I kept informing the DGM, and GM about the problem. They are responsible for the sewer line. I also told the road contractor to avoid causing damage and to work carefully, but he ignored my warnings.”
Eventually, officials acted only after Ajay Kumar escalated the issue to the HMWSSB Managing Director through WhatsApp. The DGM visited the site around 12:30 PM and stayed for two hours. Workers cleared the immediate blockage, but the manhole remained damaged. Officials acknowledged the problem and said the GHMC road contractor must handle repairs.
This road is a major route connecting Shaikpet to Manikonda, Puppalguda, and Narsingi. It carries heavy traffic, including senior officials and government dignitaries, every day. “High-profile people, senior officials, and government officers often travel this road. It is always busy. The entire colony and main road have suffered because of the contractor’s negligence,” said Ajay Kumar.
The one-crore-rupee road project was meant to improve connectivity. Instead, it created the very problem residents are now struggling to fix.
Looking deeper, Ajay Kumar says a bigger problem is the lack of coordination between GHMC and HMWS&SB during road work above sewage lines. “When a road is being laid, HMWS&SB officials should monitor the process to see if underground lines are disturbed. When something goes wrong, they blame us for not informing GHMC. That is not how responsibility works,” he said.
To make matters worse, both GHMC and HMWS&SB are under the Municipal Administration and Urban Development department and share the same Principal Secretary. This makes the lack of communication between them even harder to justify.
