Memorial, solidarity meet on Musi floods held

Afzalgunj: The Tamarind tree on the premises of Afzal Park in Osmania General Hospital had housed 150 people during the floods and saved their lives. It is the tree which has a rich history of witnessing the devastating flood which took the lives of nearly 15000 people. Representatives of the Centre for Deccan Studies, Deccan Heritage Trust, Deccan Academy and Chatri organised a solidarity meet on Friday at the Osmania General Hospital under the famous Tamarind tree to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the Musi River Floods that took place on the 28th September 1908 in Hyderabad.

Meet started by singing Lavani by Parasher and team from Begumbazar, which narrates the devastating floods of 1908 which is written 110 years back. M Vedakumar, President, FBH, while presiding, he said that since 2007 forum has been conducting memorial meet under the Tamarind tree at Osmania Hospital to commemorate in memoryof people washed away during 1908 floods and he reminisced the initiatives taken by the then 7th Nizam of Deccan Hyderabad, for the ‘Underground Drainage System’ after the devastating floods and revitalisation of Hyderabad city infrastructure, and he said that FBH has studied Musi River for 2 years from Chevella to Edulabad and prepared a document for brining old glory of Musi River through FBH. 

He felt happy that the Government had constituted Musi River Front Development Corporation and allocated 1665 crores and preparing plan of action. At this juncture, he said that the Government to involve people who worked on river Musi and also Civil Society before finalising the Musi River Restoration Plan. In this connection, he envisages to collaborate with the Govt. and ensure the project of ‘Underground Drainage System’ of Hyderabad and its surrounding areas be taken up and revive the Musi River to its original glory.

The Guest of Honour, Sajjad Shahid, Secretary, Centre for Deccan Studies, recalled the tales told by the older generations on the devastating floods, he pondered into the root cause of the floods and appealed to the young students not to meddle with nature, instead respect it and protect it for life sustenance. Dr Nagender, Superintendent, OGH cautioned the audience that majority of the health issues prevailing in the city is due to consumption of contaminated and concentrated chemical water.