Marooned metro: Nature's fury exposes rulers' lies

'Technology hub Hyderabad has edged out 129 other cities in the world to emerge as the world's most dynamic city, according to the seventh edition of the City Momentum Index by global real estate services firm JLL. The city has pushed Bengaluru to second place to regain the top position after a gap of one year. Chennai is at fifth place and Delhi is at sixth. Hyderabad is the most happening city and most liveable city.

It has not only regained the top slot but also it has been competing with cities like Shenzhen and Shanghai in innovation economy.' These are the nuggets we often hear from all leaders including the Chief Minister, MA&UD Minister K T Rama Rao and all others. Well, while we do not deny all that, the fact remains that the global city lacks basic infrastructure and this got exposed once again with the heavy downpour of about 25 to 30 cms of rain that lashed the GHMC areas for the past two days. It is literally Hyderabad under water and it will continue to be so for the next 24 hours if not more.

There are no words to describe the situation. Pathetic is too small an expression. Disaster is too routine. If residents had parked cars in cellar, they got submerged. Cars parked on roads got washed away by swirling waters. People walking on roads got washed away as lake waters came gushing. Roads caved in and hundreds of colonies were under more than 5 feet water. The GHMC authorities, despite sounding high alert, had to throw their hands up in the air. The GHMC, HMWSSB, police and NDRF teams were on roads and struggled throughout the night but still there was no end to the woes of people and finally the help of army had to be sought to rescue people and send them to safer places.

We cannot blame the teams which have been working 24x7 as they did whatever was humanely possible. When system fails what can the staff do? This is the biggest question and it for the dispensation to find out who is responsible for it - the people who pay taxes, the staff who are hardworking or the administration. Apparently, it is a clear case of failure of successive governments to improve the system. A few days ago, MA&UD Minister K T Rama Rao said all previous governments ignored the city. Well, that's a debateable issue. But this is not the time for such debates. The fact remains that even the present government took up cosmetic works on city's infrastructure in the last six years and no long-term plans to improve the facilities were taken up. Experts say that Hyderabad cannot take more than 4-5 cms of rain at a time. City is full of illegal constructions and all leaders only speak about it but no action is taken. We do not have drainage system which can take the heavy flow of water.

There is no proper linking of nalas to various outlets like the Musi river. Naturally, it would lead to submergence and heavy damages. After a couple of days, leaders of all shades will visit affected colonies, offer lip sympathy give lectures why such a situation had arisen and then they forget about it till such situation recurs again. It is the common man who has to bear the brunt of damages to his property and live in fear if he sees clouds in the sky. Bhagyanagar becomes Abhagyanagar. Is the government listening?