Once village, Bandlaguda’s urban facade cracks, infra in shambles

HYDERABAD: Situated around eight km from Mehdipatnam junction, Bandlaguda Jagir that was a village until three years ago, has repositioned itself as a rapidly growing residential pocket now, drawing a sizable chunk of IT buyers. But despite the municipal corporation earning about ₹23 crore from property taxes and flaunting a budget of 64 crore (2023-24), residents are struggling to get past village outlook and have access to infrastructure such as roads, storm water drains and waste management measures.Another major issue plaguing the pocket is flooding of low-lying areas. In Sai Ram Nagar and Vishal Colony, residents live right next to the Musi River channel, with the danger of it overflowing looming large over them. “During the 2020 floods, the area was completely inundated with water entering houses. Many of us had to abandon our homes and belongings, for our safety. It’s due to improper drainage systems,” Raghunandan Rao, a resident, said. The situation is similar in P&T Colony. Despite all these issues, homeowners pay at least three-times more in property taxes here, than what’s charged by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) due to the different assessment methods.“We pay property tax based on the Capital Value (CV) of the asset rather than the Annual Rental Value (ARV). This is an issue that we have been raising with the government but to no avail,” Narender Reddy, general secretary of All Colonies Federation of Bandlaguda Jagir Municipal Corporation (ACFBJMC) told TOI. Here, the average price of property ranges between 85 lakh and 90 lakh, with some high-end villas touching 2.5 to 3 crore and above. Meanwhile, several new gated communities have come up in the area which is about 10 to 11 km from the Financial District. This has left commuters with bottlenecked routes due to the lack of proper approach roads and laden with potholes“Bandlaguda recently became a municipal corporation and was a village before that. The roads aren’t 60 feet as mandated by the government and we are pursuing all the issues with officials diligently,” said Sudhakar, president of ACFBJMC.On top of all these issues, there are others as well, like Peerancheruvu and Yerrakunta, Kismatpur lakes that have turned into dumping grounds, mosquito menace and erratic drinking water supply. “We barely get water once a week or for ten days. We rely on the 6,000 litre water tanker that we buy separately,” said Aravind Rao, a resident of P&T colony. Many still rely on RO plants to purchase drinking water at a cost ₹5 for 20 litre bottles sold by local corporators. Meanwhile, officials paint a bright picture of the area that’s soon set to get an underground drainage system, drinking water supply, a dumping yard at Kothwalguda area and new parks. Many of these projects are in the pipeline and are expected to take off soon. “We are focusing our efforts on rehabilitating slum dwellers in the town and monsoon-related works currently,” a senior official with BJMC said