Hyderabadi gems are turning into garbage dumps

Though consumption of liquor in public places is illegal in Hyderabad, the areas around city lakes, heritage rocks and monuments tell a different tale. Liquor bottles, sometimes broken and with jagged edges, lie around the popular spots of quick getaways around the city, turning even the most picturesque spots into eyesores and of course, adding a serious risk of injury to the visitors, besides damaging the image of Hyderabad as a tourism destination.
Frauke Quader, secretary of the
Society to Save Rocks laments, “Recently I went to the rocks near Fakruddin Gutta, and what I saw was pathetic! It’s terrible when you see these bottles strewn all across the area. The rocks are now getting popular and it’s nice, but that has brought about this menace too. People come here and drink, and not just that, they don’t seem to have the sense to dispose the waste in dustbins. Why spoil nature! As it is, public drinking isn’t allowed, and if they still want to do it, they should clean up once they’re done. We need stricter laws and heavier fines for offenders along with better policing in these areas,” shares Frauke.
The situation isn’t much different near the umpteen lakes in and around Hyderabad, but co-convener of Save Our Urban Lakes (SOUL) Dr Lubna
Sarwath feels that it’s not just the public that needs to be blamed. “The government should take responsibility too. Bottles come under the section of garbage, and it is their job to clear the city of such things. Citizens will take responsibility if the government is displaying judicious responsibility towards lakes, rocks or any place for that mater.”
And while increased policing and government action has been called for, Gopal Krishna, founder of Hyderabad Trails is of the opinion that the change starts on an individual level. “When I take tourists to places like Gun Rock Hill in Trimulgherry, Shamirpet lake, Pocharam lake or even in places like the huge open air theatre in Osmania University, there are a lot of broken liquor bottles. These are beautiful places where you get to see sunrises and sunsets but the whole experience is marred by these bottles in the foreground. Thankfully, our biggest monuments like Golconda Fort and the Seven Tombs aren’t in a very bad state, but some of the lesser known tombs and historical structures are affected. Only irresponsible and insensitive people would do such things though. I don’t think policing can really get to the root of the problem. It can only be tackled through education,” shares Gopal.
Even the city police have stepped up efforts to tackle the menace. “We have stepped up policing around lakes like Hussain Sagar and Gandipet by launching special mobile units. Patrolling around other lakes will also be bolstered soon. These kind of acts come under causing public nuisance, which is an offense. Repeat offenders are arrested and fined heavily, starting from `1,000 onwards. There have been times when we have even put them in lock up for a couple of days based on the nature and scale of the offense. But at the end of the day, as a nation we need to have better civic sense,” says Sandeep Shandilya, IPS, CP, Cyberabad.