Encroached Hyderabad lakes unleash flood fury

HYDERABAD: A big lesson Mother Nature taught Hyderabad on October 14 is that water will furiously reclaim its lost ground, drowning urban sprawls in its flow. After unprecedented rain, the lakes of Hyderabad, whose storage capacity eroded over the years, breached their bunds and flooded residential colonies.
Most areas which faced flooding in the city on Wednesday are those abutting water bodies and obstructing their channels. The flooding story is the same, be it at Mailardevpally, Tellapur, Begumpet, Madhapur, Ramanthapur and Malkajgiri. Palle Cheruvu bund breached, flooding several colonies in Mailardevpally and surrounding areas leading to roads turning into streams.
Although orders directing authorities to evict squatters had been issued by courts and National Green Tribunal (NGT), encroachments have continued unabated with political support. Activists say of 190 lakes in GHMC limits, all of them have been encroached upon. Activist Lubna Sarwat said, “Both Palle Cheruvu and Bandlaguda Cheruvu encroachments have resulted in flooding of several localities in the area. Squatters are not only private players but also civic agencies.”
“Vengalrao Park is actually Enugulakunta. It was turned into a park with a pond. Due to this, flood from Banjara Hills is causing waterlogging at Raj Bhavan and Model House,” she added.
Encroachments at Tammidigunta lake has resulted in flooding of a posh residential complex. Historical satellite imagery of lakes like Surram Cheruvu of Bandlaguda is evidence that it has been annihilated systematically. Despite repeated appeals to restore Palle Cheruvu, the officials did not heed resulting in breach on Wednesday, causing havoc in the area.
A HUDA notification states: “All local bodies, municipalities and gram panchayats, in whose jurisdiction lakes fall, shall take steps to exercise utmost vigilance to prevent any type of encroachments, reclamation, petition or damage of any listed lakes. They are also directed not to grant any permission for buildings or structures of any type within the full tank level and within the 30 metre buffer belt around the lakes under any circumstances.” However, the notification has been binned.
Public representatives have a different take. Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi told TOI: “This flooding and breach of Palle Cheruvu happened due to unprecedented and record rain.”