Elections bring a ray of hope to the citizens. All-round development is what voters in south of the city expect from the public representatives in the next five years.
Inhabited mainly by the Muslim community, the constituencies lag behind when it comes to execution of road widening works, conservation of heritage structures, provision of adequate educational and health facilities and proper civic amenities, they feel.
To begin with, improving infrastructure in government managed schools is a major demand here apart from setting up higher educational institutions up to post-graduate level. “The literacy rate has increased several folds and setting up higher education institutions is the need of the hour,” feels S. Q. Masood, a social activist. Similarly, not much has been done on the proposal to widen 40 different stretches, people point out. Though announced long ago, works on several road stretches including Shahalibanda – Fateh Darwaza, Zohara Bee Dargah – Kanchanbagh, Moosabowli to Petlaburj are yet to begin.
In fact, road widening works on Charminar – Falaknuma road stretch, which began two decades ago, are still to be completed. The sooner it is completed the better is the common refrain.
Despite the fact that a lot is talked about conservation of heritage monuments, not much is done on the ground. The historic Khursheed Jah Devdi, Aliabad Sarai, Mahboob Chowk Tower, Badeshahi Ashoorkhana, Purani Haveli, Paigah Tombs cry for attention. A long-term conservation plan is needed, which will not only help in the upkeep of heritage monuments, but also attract tourists. Many locals will directly benefit by way of employment opportunities, feel heritage activists. Government managed hospitals are the need of the hour in this part of the city, aver the social activists, pointing to the mushrooming of private nursing homes. “BPL families constitute a large percentage of the population and costly health care prevents many from taking timely treatment. Upgrading the existing hospitals at least in slum areas will help a lot,” feels Mohd Turab, executive secretary, COVA. On the infrastructure front, people want the works of RoBs at Kandikalgate and Uppuguda to be completed fast.
