Finally pump set brought in to rescue Ramanthapur residents

HYDERABAD: Eight days after inundation, a pump set of 125 horse power (HP) capacity brought in from Rajahmundry, AP, has become a ray of hope for victims of Ramanthapur flood. Areas abutting the Ramanthapur lake are inundated since October 2 as the lake got flooded due to heavy inflow of water due to rains and also inflows of excess water from a lake in Osmania University.After seven days, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) had decided on Monday afternoon that powerful pump sets have to be utilised to suck out water from Ramanthapur and channel it through the outlet pipes which are located above the present level of water in lake so that water recedes from inundated areas. As per calculations of GHMC engineers, to ensure that water from lake is sucked out and channelised efficiently utilising entire capacity of outlet pipes, minimum of 85HP pump set is required. However, no pump set with that capacity was available in Hyderabad. 

On Tuesday, GHMC could find a 125HP pump set available for use in Rajahmundry, for sucking out water from Ramanthapur lake.Ajit Reddy, a resident of Ravindra Nagar whose house is also inundated, said, “It was only by late evening that the pump set was brought to Ramanthapur. It would be past midnight for it to be installed and used.”Residents of inundated areas are worried as there were some cases on Tuesday of children and even some adults reporting health issues like fever, diarrhea and vomiting. Flood waters from the lake water have mixed with sewage.

M Suresh, another resident of Ravindra Nagar, said, “The cellar of our apartment is inundated, the water is stagnant since eight days and it is stinking. Mosquitoes are breeding there. We had asked for fogging but the GHMC did not respond. The apartment dwellers spent money out of their pocket to buy bleaching powder and spread it in the area. Snakes were seen in the inundated cellar.”

A public health department official has warned that if the situation continues for even 1-2 days more, then there can be an outbreak of vector borne diseases like malaria, chikungunya in the inundated areas.