City's dirty underbelly, breeding ground for diseases

Devara Jeevana Halli (DJ Halli) is one of the most vulnerable to outbreak of diseases for good reason: Poor sanitation and lack of even basic healthcare facilities. No surprises then, that the residents here keep falling ill.

As Maria M of the area says, when it rains the whole area turns into a cesspool due to the overflowing sewage-mixed drainage nearby.

“Children and elderly citizens often fall prey to fever and dengue. Last week, one of the neighbouring kids got diarrhoea due to the contaminated drinking water. The lanes such as Modi Road and DJ Halli Main Road are equally worse as rain water with the mix of sewage water gushes into their homes,” she says.

“There is a Palike Maternity Hospital but it is not maintained properly and not clean. Nobody wants to go there. Hence, people are forced to go to other government hospitals in the city,” points out Sheela, another resident of DJ Halli. 

The residents say in October, this year, Mayor B S Satyanarayana accompanied by engineers and Corporator of the area, Sampath Raj had inspected the place. 

“We were also told by the Mayor that drainage network and other developmental works would be taken up at an estimated cost of Rs 50 lakh. However, we do not know when the works would start," wonders Sheela. 

According to the area corporator, Sampath Raj, the locality with a population of around 40,000 has always been lagging behind in terms of basic health amenities.

“The maternity hospital needs to be upgraded and well-maintained. The area lacks good health clinics and I have already spoken about this to the higher officials of the civic agency. The Mayor has told that by next week, the funds would be released and steps would be taken to improve the amenities.”