HYDERABAD: The recent floods that brought Hyderabad to its knees has put the spotlight back on a major concern looming large over the city – continuous choking of its water bodies through rapid construction activity. A map developed by researchers at Hyderabad Urban Lab (HUL), further highlights the magnitude of the problem.
Created through QGIS — an open source platform that allows for analysis of geospatial data — the map shows the lake and water channel network of Hyderabad and how, originally, water from tanks at a higher elevation flowed into tanks at lower elevation via nalas. The water, eventually, flowed into the river.
A close look at the map reveals that many of these tanks have multiple channels branching out of them and flowing in different directions. While some of these channels are active, others are dormant and do not have water in them when there isn't enough rainfall. In case of excess rains (such as the recent showers), though, water overflows into these dormant streams too, leading to flooding in areas that are otherwise dry. “That explains why many pockets of the city, which usually do not have a problem of flooding, saw water overflowing outside their homes this time around,” said Kabeer Arora, architect and urban designer who developed the map.
This map, when seen together with the second set of satellite images – of the area around Durgam Cheruvu and Gurram Cheruvu – tells the disconcerting story. It establishes how large-scale construction has taken place all around and over these streams, often very close to the water bodies, blocking their natural flow. Result: urban flooding with no space left for lakes to contract and expand according to season.
Incidentally, areas around Gurram Cheruvu that breached during the recent rains, were among the worst affected in the city. “As is typical of a city with unchecked growth, people in Hyderabad too have built boundary walls along slopes (going downwards). As a result, the water that could drain onto the slopes now flood onto the roads. This is a result of planning norms that do not respect the region’s topography,” explained architect Srinivas Murthy adding how Vaastu too has a role to play here.
“In Hyderabad, it is considered unlucky to have the water channel facing south. So, in most cases a retaining wall is built on that side. That disrupts the water network,” he added
Irrigation officials admit to this being a major issue. “If the channels were not blocked, water would have receded much faster without causing so much damage,” said an engineer from the department.