Hyderabad: Hyderabad suffered heavy losses in terms of lives and properties during the flood in October last year due to the illegal occupation of lakes and nalas, Niti Aayug report revealed.
Greater Hyderabad has had about one lakh of water bodies in the past. As a result of the illegal offense, this number has now come down to only 185. Most waterways or canals are occupied. The canals to drain excess water into the reservoirs have been closed due to illegal occupation.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and the state government have no plan to deal with situations of force majeure, NITI Aayog report said.
The report recommendations include the expansion of the drainage system and the restoration of all the water drainage canals in twin cities and the drainage of excess rainwater through underground drainage in the Musi River.
A 16-member NITI Aayog committee chaired by its Vice President Rajiv Kumar has compiled a report on ‘Formulation of Flood Management Strategy Across the Country’. The committee report sheds light on precautionary measures. The report contains a complete chapter on floods in Hyderabad.
On October 14, 2020, Hyderabad city saw an unprecedented flood.
After a night of rain, the rainwater drowned the roads and flooded homes worth crowns in luxury places like Manikonda, Gachibowli, Rajendranagar and Madhapur in the western part of the city.
The Nadeem colony, adjacent to Shah Hatim Talab, had a water level of 12 feet, while the colonies Devi Nagar and Chudi Bazaar in Goshamahal saw the water level up to 10 feet. The situation was the same in several other colonies like Hafiz Baba Nagar, Al Jubail Colony, Ghazi-e-Millat Colony, Chandrayangutta, Ghouse Nagar, Moin Bagh, Edi Bazar, Talab Katta and Riyasat Nagar in the old city. All these places have seen water rise to four feet. About two dozen colonies around LB Nagar also faced flooding.
According to GHMC, at least 37,409 families were affected, 33 people lost their lives and the damage to the properties is estimated at Rs. 670 crores.
The floods in the city were caused by the flooding of the rivers. Due to the illegal occupation of the wetlands of Hussainsagar, the excess rainwater flowed out of the water channels, leading to avalanches and floods in many urban areas. Water drainage channels from 75 rivers out of 185 are completely closed.
According to the NITI Aayog report, the state government does not use the Doppler radar facility which can provide precise information to plan and deal with the force majeure situations in the state.
Source: The Siasat Daily