GHMC bans cake cutting, littering on Tank Bund, no more midnight celebrations

HYDERABAD: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has imposed restrictions on the birthday celebrations on the Tank Bund and prohibited cake cutting and littering.

The GHMC took the decision after considering the complaints from city dwellers over cleanliness issues and established the signboards announcing the ban.

Though the celebrations make the place vibrant and lights up the glitter and grandeur at nights, the very purpose of renovating and rejuvenating the Tank Bund to bring back the splendour of celebration of the most popular hangout place is lost because of littering.

Maintenance is posing a very serious challenge to the civic authorities as denizens who celebrate the city are giving a damn to their basic responsibility of minimum civic sense. It’s a public road and a public property. Nobody is paying any tax or charges for celebrating birthdays at midnight.

The housekeeping staff keep on cleaning the sidewalks and the process is endless. Tidiness should be an integral part of the celebrations.

Even on the PVNR Marg adjoining the Tank Bund, the GHMC erected similar flexes at 100-metre intervals under the Swachch Bharat campaign stating that the premises are under CCTV surveillance. It also said that whosoever failed to adhere to the rules would be slapped with penalty.

However, the decision is evoking a mixed response with some people having welcoming it while the others expressing displeasure. The people questioned whether similar rules were being imposed at other places such as Khajaguda Lake and the Cable Bridge regarding extending the ban to other locations.

Meanwhile, the folks who were habituated to celebrations on the Tank Bund were not pleased with the ban and suggested that GHMC come up with an alternate solution to overcome the menace of cleanliness at the premises.