As vehicles raced around the City College on the southern bank of Musi, dozens of schoolchildren held up papers, books and their small palms to protect themselves from the blazing afternoon sun. They then began to walk on the Musi riverfront, as part of a heritage walk organised by Forum for Better Hyderabad to mark the 110th anniversary of the September 28, 1908 flood in the city.
“I have studied under the tamarind tree near Osmania General Hospital that saved 150 people,” Prem Singh Rathore, chairman of Musi Riverfront Development Corporation, told the children.
Walking zone
“The Musi has become a word of abuse as it now carries only sewage. Soon, it will have pure water. There will be a walking zone and a cycling zone. A drone survey has been completed,” said Mr. Rathore, who blamed opposition parties for approaching courts to stall the project.
“There was an international design competition. Once the project is completed, Musi will become a byword for success,” Mr. Rathore promised the children.
Sewerage system
Earlier, giving a brief history of the flood, Veda Kumar of FBH said: “The flood was devastating. Water flowed for a kilometre across the city killing thousands of people. After that flood, the Nizam Mahbub Ali Khan and later Mir Osman Ali Khan used the services of well-known engineer M. Visweswarayya to transform the city. Hyderabad was one of the first cities in India to have underground sewerage system.”
The walk ended with an exhibition of photographs near Salar Jung Museum where dozens of photographs showed the havoc caused by the flood.