Hyderabad: Monsoon fears haunt citizens as works on lakes, drains drag on

Hyderabad: Though the monsoon is still over a month away, the unseasonal rains are presenting a preview of how bad the life would be during monsoon for the citizens.

The speed with which promises are made by the government is not being reflected in the works that it takes up on water bodies like lakes and drains to prevent floods which is crucial to prevent floods.

The works that are on at snail’s pace and are unlikely to be completed before monsoon in old city are in Karwan, Shah Hatim Talab, Langer Houz Talab, Naya Qila Talab and Jamali Kunta water bodies.

These areas and various colonies surrounding the water bodies were the worst affected areas in the city and people have been facing nightmare every monsoon. The memories of 2000, 2008 and 2020 are still fresh in the minds of the residents of these areas. The main problem here is that water bodies have shrunk as they have been occupied and apartments and houses have come up. There is no outlet for backwaters to exit and this results in flooding of these areas.

Residents live amidst overflowing drains, blocked outlet channels, dumping of debris and narrowing of inlet and outlet channels due to rampant constructions and encroachments. said Mohammed Habeebuddin, an activist.

The shrinking Shah Hatim Talab, Langar Houz Talab has now turned into a dumping site for discarded household goods, construction waste, and tons of plastic is seen floating in different forms. Though the civic body initiated several works it failed to save the lake and to prevent flooding, he added.

Senior GHMC official told Hans India that it initiated a project to revamp the stormwater drain network in Tolichowki and sanctioned a total of Rs 15 crore for Shah Hatim lake and Balakapur Nala to ensure the flooding in residential areas during rains. In addition Rs 8 crore were sanctioned for diversion of Balakapur nala.

In order to reduce the capacity of water in Shah Hatim Lake, a new outlet was constructed to ensure the smooth passage of rainwater into river Musi. New storm water pipeline was laid to reduce the backwater that rushes into residential colonies of Tolichowki, the authorities claim.

As a result major open Nalas like Balkapur Nala, Gulshan Colony Nala and Moti Darwaza Nala which earlier faced water-logging and heavy inundation during rains are now free from bottlenecks and no major inundation has been reported, they said.

The officials add that the work of laying Trunk Lines which is around 12 and 15 feet deep, and 2 and 4-feet width has been taken up phase-wise. In the first phase, the works are going on in 7-tombs road. The series of works would be taken up with a total 27 km stretch worth Rs 290 crore.

But the colony resident welfare associations say, that they are still scared of monsoon. It could be big risk to stay in these areas. In last two years there these areas witnessed heavy inundation of Colonies despite civic body’s claims, they said.