HYDERABAD: Residents of Dharani Nagar woke up to a rude shock, on Saturday, as last year’s scare revisited them. The reason: a nala passing through the colony had started to froth abnormally, allegedly due to the mixing of chemical affluents giving sleepless nights to the locals. However, the Pollution Control Board(PCB) maintains that it is not toxic foam.
The frothing started after the rain intensified in the Kukatpally region at midnight on Friday causing excessive water to pass through the narrow nala. It continued till late into Saturday. “The frothing started at about 1 a.m, and we had to rush to a safe place considering what happened last year when the froth engulfed our houses. From then till now, nothing has changed,” said B Khajjamma, a local. She added that the froth had caused many rashes and pimples and even killed several plants.
Locals alleged that the phenomenon is due to the mixture of chemicals in the nala. However, an official of the PCB, who came for inspection, claimed that the reason merely a breakage in the surface tension of the water. “There seem to be no chemical factories upstream. It is unlikely that chemical effluents are mixed in the water. We suspect that the surface tension on the water broke due to excessive flow” said the PCB official on Saturday evening. The officials also collected samples to analyse the presence of chemicals. Meanwhile, the PCB officials have added anti-foaming agents as a stop-gap measure.