Secunderabad: Poor drainage system dogs Hasmathpet Lake residents

Secunderabad: As the monsoon has arrived, once again people residing in and around the Hasmathpet Lake are a worried lot. Due to absence of a proper drainage system, lake water is overflowing into lanes. The locals allege that a retaining wall has been constructed, but no proper manholes are available to drain out water.

They point out that a half of the lake falls under the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) and the other is under the GHMC. In the SCB part the retaining walls were built, but it seems that the SCB officials have forgotten to give proper connections for draining out water.

Officials have been saying that the lake has been cleaned, but the ground really is it is surrounded by trash. The SCB officials are not bothered to provide a permanent solution to the 500 families residing near the 66-acre lake.

Girish Pranav of Royal Enclave, Hasmathpet Road, said, "Tthe water inundates low-lying areas, such as ours. Water flows into our compound if it rains even for 30-40 minutes. If the monsoon season peaks this will be a big problem for us, like what happened in 2020. Even after that also no protection was provided. This is not the first that this has happened. It happens every time even if it rains for 40 minutes. As there's no proper draining system rainwater takes a lot of time to get cleared. This should stop; proper draining chamber must be provided. The SCB has just constructed a wall and neglected to do this."

Said another resident of Hasmathpet, "There is no proper connectivity for draining out rainwater. Even a drizzle is enough to overflow areas; the nala gets filled and overflows the lanes. We live in fear daily, as the monsoon has just started. There is a serious problem in drainage pipeline. A new pipeline should be laid, as the existing one is insufficient to carry rainwater. The drains should have proper holes to facilitate movement of water."