Recall October 2020: Two years after floods, Hyderabad suffers a deluge deja vu

HYDERABAD: Unlike the October 2020 floods that claimed several lives and left a trail of destruction across Hyderabad, the rains this October haven't been so cruel so far. But with some parts of the city recording over 11 cm of rainfall in the last three days, there's been a deluge of waterlogging complaints - almost as many as 2020.
Official data from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) control room shows between October 7 and now, it received 1,126 rain-related complaints. In comparison, during a similar period in October 2020, the count of such complaints stood at 1,237.
"This just goes to show that the same problems still plague the city and we haven't learnt our lesson from the previous episodes," said Mohammed Rizwan, a civic activist from Old City. However, even this year, the reason for the inundation was much the same - lack of post-monsoon desilting works, he added. "We saw this coming because the drains in Mehdipatnam tend to overflow even without rain. Had they done the desilting works before October, the damage could have been reduced," Rizwan said.
Worse, apart from the usual low-lying areas, this October saw new waterlogging points show on the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation's radar. These include - Shaikpet, Madhapur, HMT Hills, KPHB, JPN Nagar, Moosapet, Ameerpet, LB Nagar, Khajaguda among others.
These areas received highest rainfall, that left the pathetic state of their drainage system exposed.
"All it took was an hour of intense rain and the street turned into a stream of water. This usually doesn't happen as we stay in the uphill region of Shaikpet. Certainly, there is a need to review the drainage system in our area," Angajala Ramesh, a resident of Maruti Colony told TOI.
Experts too sound a word of caution citing a change in the weather patterns in the last few years. "October is supposed to be monsoon withdrawal month and known as mini-summer. But since 2020, there has been a drastic shift in weather conditions. Where is the preparedness for this? Both post-monsoon and pre-monsoon desilting are important and the changes in the preparedness calendar need to take place to tackle this," said BV Subba Rao, technical member, reservoirs and lakes, Water Domain, BIS India.
Sources in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation claim that the shortage in monsoon emergency teams, as many contractors have gone on strike due to non-payment of dues, has added to the woes. No desilting works were taken up in September, they add.