Published Jun 11, 2026 | 10:46 AM ⚊ Updated Jun 11, 2026 | 10:46 AM
Bhagat Singh Nagar. Credit: Sreshta Ladegaam/South First
Synopsis: Pre-monsoon showers on 9 June left Bhagat Singh Nagar basti in Hyderabad’s Baghlingampally waterlogged and without power overnight, after a tree collapse damaged homes. Residents alleged no help from GHMC, DRF, or HYDRAA despite repeated calls. They staged a protest and were later dispersed by police. Meanwhile, families awaiting double-bedroom housing for decades appealed to the Revanth Reddy government to speed up the process.
The first spell of pre-monsoon showers in Hyderabad caused a night-long power outage and waterlogging in Bhagat Singh Nagar basti overlooking Sundarayya Park in Baghlingampally on Tuesday, 9 June, causing severe distress to the residents.
Tree branch collapsed on the roof
Bhagat Singh Nagar is a small settlement of daily wage workers from Palamuru who have been living here since the 1990s. Many of them take up informal jobs in the nearby Chikkadpally area.
According to a resident, a thunderstorm lashed the area around 4:30 PM Tuesday and caused a large tree branch to collapse on the close-knit houses, partially destroying the roofs. The settlement was waterlogged soon, followed by a power outage that lasted until the early hours of Wednesday, 10 June.
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Roof Destroyed by collapsed tree branch
Residents complained that they did not receive any assistance from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) or the Disaster Relief Force (DRF) despite contacting them multiple times.
Lingamayya, who heads the Bhagat Singh Nagar Welfare Association, told South First, “We called GHMC, the police; no one responded. We did not receive any support from HYDRAA either. We heard a transformer blow up, yet no one came to help us.”
Ravi Chary, Corporator of Ramanagar 87 Division, visited the basti Tuesday and assured a quick response by the following day, but the residents said that no action followed.
Lingamayya added that they had to spend the night trying to drain the rainwater entering their homes. “We do not have a proper drainage system here. So there’s no way for the water to go out,” he said. He also shared that many of them decided to wait outside their homes after the heavy downpour subsided.
Residents said that they could neither cook nor eat as their homes were waterlogged until the late early hours of Wednesday.
They staged a sit-in protest demanding action from the GHMC. They alleged that the police soon arrived and directed them to call off the protest citing lack of permission.
The residents also stated that the police left immediately after the protest was called off, and they were left to clear the tree branches by themselves as no official help was available.
Resident Clearing Collapsed Branches
A Disaster Relief Force (DRF) truck was spotted nearby, assisting in clearing another tree across the street, but the basti residents confirmed that no help was provided to Bhagat Singh Nagar.
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The residents of the Bhagat Singh Nagar basti face the same situation every year during the monsoon. They have been trying to avail double bedroom flats through state housing schemes for 30 years, but their efforts remain futile.
Some nearby settlements like Palamuru Basti were converted into public housing over the last few years. Hoping for a similar outcome, they applied for the state housing scheme multiple times – in 2005 during Congress rule, in 2014 under BRS government, and most recently in 2025.
Lingamayya showing documents related to state housing scheme applications
The residents made an appeal to the Revanth Reddy government to add 75 families of Bhagat Singh Nagar to the beneficiaries list of the Indiramma Illu Housing Scheme.
