BARKAS, an area predominantly known as a bastion of the Arab community and considered a politically sensitive area, has divided into three GHMC divisions such as Kanchanbagh, Barkas, and Chandrayangutta however, this split makes the community largely unhappy and termed it as a movie without “cautious incrementalism.”
Among the three divisions, the Chandrayangutta ward No.43 carries a bit extra votes than the other two such as Kahanchanbagh and Barkas but have a substantial amount of Arab voters.
Reserved under BC (General) category this ward has a total number of 42,736 voters but carries issues and grievances identically similar to the other two divisions. Lack of enthusiasm in the voters has identically witnessed here too similar to other wards. The quantum of votes that pulled during the last elections show exhibits the trend embraced by the voters. Out of 42736 voters, only one-third of them i.e. 17076 electors have franchised their right to vote last time.
The division has recently grabbed the attention of mainstream media in the state and around the nation after the recent flood leaves a trail of destruction here with several areas flushed out after a bund of nearby Gurrum Cheruvu lake blew up unable to withstand the floodwater.
Promulgated as Ward No.43 under GHMC limits, this division carries colonies such as Barkas, Sayeed Colony, Ali Gulshan Colony, Baba Nagar, Metro Colony phase 3-4, and part of Nabeel Colony that severely hit by the recent flood caused by a breach of Gurrum Cheruvu bund.
“During the last one month, the flood water has gradually receded into the ground but has left loads of sludge behind the scene that has damaged all the home stuff, appliances, and electrical goods besides vehicles. Several affected families, who were forced to live in their relatives’ houses, are now gradually moving back to their houses but still there prevailing a messy state of affair in the colonies,” said Mohammed Bin Mujaide, a resident of Sayed Colony.
Refuting the government claim of distributing crores of rupees as cash relief among the flood victims, he said, “No such grant has been received by many of us around here despite suffering hard due to the recent flood. The Irony is we haven’t seen our corporator yet and at once visited our area to look into our grievances.”
“The entire Barkas area predominantly known as a cantonment of Arab community has divided into three areas such as Kanchan Bagh, Barkas and Chandrayan Gutta making it difficult for our issues to be solved sincerely without panhandling. Representatives seldom visit the division especially the Barkas area to address the issues while people have to suffer silently in the absence of proper representation,” informed Sadiq Bin Musfair Al-Kaseri, a resident of Barkas.
“Sanitation is the biggest issue people here are facing for several years. We by ourselvesmanaged to clean the piled up garbage by paying to sanitary staff. Moreover, we haven’t received a single penny from the government as cash relief despite having greatly suffered from the flood fury. There is an obvious gap between the promises made by the leaders and the ground reality we are smarting under since years,” said Khaled Shaker, another resident.
