Hydraa, GHMC, HMWSSB clash over Hyderabad manhole incident, fumble public safety

A five-year-old girl fell into an open manhole in Hyderabad’s old city, sparking uproar and exposing poor coordination among GHMC, HMWSSB and Hydraa. Departments traded blame as residents demanded stronger oversight, better safety measures and unified responsibility for civic infrastructure

Hyderabad: Thursday’s incident of a five-year-old girl slipping and falling into an open manhole in the old city exposed the lack of coordination between administrative units responsible for the city.

When the girl fell into the manhole, it caused an uproar, with three key departments, HMWSSB, GHMC and Hydraa, initially passing the buck.

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The absence of coordination among the city administration units has been aggravated further with confusion over Hydraa appearing to take on roles and responsibilities usually assigned to GHMC, HMWSSB and others.

The lack of clarity among departments has led to delays in addressing critical safety issues, particularly amid heavy rains. Officials were seen pointing fingers at one another during the Yakutpura incident on Thursday.

When contacted, D Sandeep Kumar, Deputy General Manager (Chanchalguda) of HMWSSB, said, “Based on a complaint from Rein Bazar corporator Mohammed Wasayuddin, HMWSSB workers went to Moula Ka Chilla with a jetting machine and cleaned seven GHMC manholes, which were later covered properly. The manhole into which the girl fell was not cleaned by our teams.”

GHMC (Charminar) Deputy Commissioner M Mangathayaru, who reached the spot soon after the incident, said, “It is GHMC’s manhole (square type), and Hydraa’s Monsoon Emergency Teams (METs) cleaned it as part of desilting the stormwater drain but forgot to fix the cover properly. Due to their negligence, the school-going child fell into the manhole.”

Initially denying negligence, Hydraa Commissioner AV Ranganath later said a probe was conducted and action would be taken against those responsible for the incident.

The incident has sparked discussions on the need for better infrastructure maintenance, stronger oversight by authorities, and improved coordination among city administrative units.

An office-bearer of a prominent RWA urged the departments to prioritise unified action over internal disputes to ensure public safety. “It is alarming how such negligence can pose serious risks to citizens. These departments must ensure regular maintenance of infrastructure to prevent such incidents,” he added.