HANAMKONDA/WARANGAL: Heavy rain lashed several parts of the erstwhile Warangal district on Monday night. History repeated itself this monsoon season as rainwater entered several colonies, causing severe trouble for residents and disrupting normal life.
Low-lying areas in Warangal city were completely inundated, and residents had to wade through knee-deep water to reach their homes. Residents alleged that the GWMC authorities had failed in pre-monsoon works in the Tri-Cities limits.
Warangal is the second-largest city in Telangana state after Hyderabad. The GWMC covers the 66 wards, and there is an absence of an underground drainage system; several areas and colonies under the GWMC limits are witnessing open drainage water stagnation.
Huge amounts of sewage water pass through open drainage lines, adjacent to which many houses have been located for decades. An existing drainage system has completely failed during the heavy rains that lashed the cities.
As a result, the rainwater reached low-lying areas like Vivekananda Colony, Saiganesh Colony, SR Nagar, and Lakshmi Ganapati Colony in Kasibugga; NTR Nagar, Sainagar Colony, Shivanagar, Underbridge, Karimabad, Gandhi Nagar, Balaji Nagar, Shanthi Nagar, Ursu Gutta, DK Komuraiah Nagar, Hanuman Nagar, Ekashila Nagar, Gokul Nagar, and Ambedkar Nagar in Hanamkonda areas. Residents are lifting the floodwater into the buckets and other machinery pumps they are using to clean their houses.
On Tuesday morning, a function hall wall collapsed due to heavy rain in Karimabad under the GWMC limits. No one was injured in the incident.
Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation (GWMC) officials have taken precautionary measures in the wake of the inconvenience caused by heavy rain. The Special Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams are in action to assist the people living in low-lying areas. The GWMC teams are deployed in low-lying areas and diverting the rainwater into nalas.
With the heavy rains, the control room was also set up at the headquarters of the GWMC. The GWMC officials advised the citizens to provide information to the special toll-free number 1800 425 1980 and WhatsApp number 9701999676.
Warangal district received highest rainfall 202.7 mm reported in Sangem Mandal, 122.3 mm rainfall reported in Wardhanapeta Mandal, 148.5 mm reported in Khilla Warangal and 107.5 mm rainfall reported in Parvathagiri Mandal
Warangal Commissionerate police have been on high alert to deal with any catastrophic situation, as there was heavy rainfall on Monday night. The police officers are making precautionary plans in collaboration with the Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation (GWMC) authorities on the precautions to be taken if the floodwater increase.
Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation (GWMC) Commissioner Chahat Bajpai have issued orders to cancel the leave of GWMC employees to make them available. They instructed the employees to be alert in their respective wards and take measures to ensure the free flow of rainwater in the low-lying areas.
Warangal district collector Dr Satya Sharada and Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation (GWMC) Commissioner Chahat Bajpai inspected the flood-affected SR Nagar, Giriprasad Nagar, Dupakunta Raod areas under the GWMC limits on Tuesday. She instructed the employees to be alert in their respective areas and directed the authorities to be vigilant to ensure the citizens do not face any troubles because of the heavy rains. The officials should be alert to identify the partially damaged houses and vacate their houses and shift to the rehabilitation centre in the city limits. She directed the officials to provide food and drinking water to the rehabilitation centre, said Chahat Bajpai.
When the TNIE contacted GWMC Commissioner Chahat Bajpai, she stated that as of now four families have shifted to the rehabilitation centre in the government school in Fort Warangal. The teams have already deployed in the wards to take precautionary measures in the low-lying areas. In addition, nine special engineering teams and two Special Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams were monitoring the situation in the low-lying areas and diverting the water from the colonies, said Chahat Bajpai.