Colonies in Manikonda, Kukatpally and other areas were inundated, leaving residents stranded and fuming during the recent torrential rains.
A 10-day-old unnamed infant girl caught fever after she was drenched in rainwater that entered her house in Anjali Gardens in Hyderabad’s Manikonda in the early hours of Tuesday, 5 September.
“My granddaughter had 101 degrees of fever yesterday. She was sleeping when the water entered our home,” Jakamma, a daily wager from Karnataka, told South First after getting her granddaughter examined by a doctor.
Every time there are torrential rains in Hyderabad, videos and pictures of disrupted lives start surfacing across social media.
The story was no different this time as the heavy rainfall over the last weekend, which continued till 5 September morning, saw several colonies inundated, leaving their residents stranded and fuming.
Among the worst affected areas were Manikonda, Quthbullapur, Kukatpally, and Gajularamaram. They were inaccessible for hours, before the water was pumped out.
South First visited some of these areas and spoke to the residents about their annual plight.
In Manikonda, residents of colonies like Anjali Gardens and Panchavati were forced to stay indoors as the nearby nalas overflowed.
“Water entered the ground floor of my house and the height was up to three to four feet. It comes from Lanco hills and such street flooding has been happening here since 2019 whenever it rains heavily,” Vishwanath P, 39, a resident of the Anjali Gardens, told South First.
He added: “The capacity of the drain pipes in our lane is 150 mm and were laid around 20 years or so back; it should be 600 mm, as pointed out by contractors some time back. The population has also grown here since then.”
A colony road in Panchavati colony. (Supplied)
Pointing to the almost nonchalant attitude of the Manikonda Municipality to their woes, Vishwanath said: “Since 2019, and even for the past one month, we have been regularly petitioning the authorities, but there is no action on their part. We have even given representations a few times.
“Every time they assure us of a solution in a few days, but nothing happens. Even yesterday, the additional collector and municipality commissioner visited the locality and gave the same assurance.”
The drains in the lanes were flowing at almost full capacity and a few millimeters of additional rainfall would have resulted in heavy water logging.
Countering the claims of locals, Manikonda Municipality Commissioner K Phalgun Kumar told South First that the Anjali Gardens area was inundated for the first time ever. He added that the municipality was constructing new drains — of one foot size — in the area and that the work would be completed within a week.
While the average rainfall across GHMC limits was around 73 mm on 5 September, many areas received rainfall between 120 mm and 140 mm, as per the Telangana State Development Planning Society (TSDPS).
The main road of Panchavati colony, which is around 2.5 km from the Anjali Gardens, was under three to four feet of water after the Bulkapur nala overflowed, according to locals.
At one place, locals had to bring in a JCB to evacuate students from a school bus after it broke down in the middle of a flooded stretch.
Explaining the problem to South First, Sitaram Dhulipala, president of the Panchavati and Sai Lakshmi Colony Welfare Association said, “What is happening is that instead of aligning Bulkapur nala downstream towards Shaikhpet nala, the GHMC have put downstream towards Panchavati colony.”
He added: “In Panchavati colony, the nala takes a perpendicular turn due to which it overflows and floods low-lying areas.”
A road in Manikonda heavily inundated due to the rains. (Supplied)
Explaining the issue further, he says, “In road no.10 Panchavati colony water flows from Malkam cheruvu and Bulkapur Nala has to flow towards Shaikpet Nala. While constructing the retaining walls to Shaikpet Nala, a diversion was created about 15 years back, all along road no.10 culminating at TRAILS (gated community) into Pandenvagu Nala.”
“But instead of water flowing towards of downstream of Shaikpet Nala, water from Shaikpet Nala, malkam cheruvu, and Bulkapur is flowing into Pandenvagu permanently, and this will go up to Neknampur to Musi via TRAILS, Secretariat colony, Venkateswara colony,” he adds.
While noting that the citizens should also not litter the nalas, Dhulipala, who advocates against single-use plastic, pointed out that sudden heavy rains might be because of the global climate change.
He adds, “Also, lot of garbage, plastic etc., thrown into open Nalas will surface at all important points during heavy rains and floods obstructing the free flow.”
“The existing drainage infrastructure in our area will not meet the present challenges and there needs to be a complete revamp before government announces any further multi-crore projects.”
About the Panchavati colony drainage management, Municipality Commissioner Phalgun Kumar said, “The excessive water is coming from the GHMC area. An SNDP (Strategic Nala Development Plan) project worth ₹9.8 crore is under implementation and is likely to be completed in three months.”
A layer of chemical foam coated parts of Kukatpally area, including Dharani Nagar, which locals alleged was from nearby factories.
“The government says they tested the water and there are no chemicals in it, but ahead of Jeedimetla there are a few factories which release chemical industrial waste. The drainage lines of our area are also mixed in those lakes where the industries release chemicals,” Siva, a resident, told South First.
A layer of chemical foam coated parts of #Hyderabad‘s Kukatpally area which locals alleged was from nearby factory.
Ahead of Jeedimetla factories release industrial waste, a resident to @TheSouthfirst.@GHMCOnline @DC_Kukatpally @GadwalvijayaTRS @zckukatpally pic.twitter.com/XxUJkUDDbZ
— Ajay Tomar (@ajaytomarasks) September 7, 2023
He added that residents have also complained about an increase in mosquitoes. “Especially from 6 to 8.30 pm it’s impossible to stay outside. Today the ‘snow’ (foam) has reduced and the water also is gone. But during the heavy rains, it was a disaster.”
“The Strategic Nala Development Plan has been successful in arresting flooding wherever works were taken up. In the flooded areas such as Quthbullapur, these works have not happened. We will sanction more nalas under the SNDP phase 2 soon,” said the GHMC mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi who visited some of the residents in the city and assured them of relief.
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