Thanks to the massive and reckless encroachments on city lakes, low-lying areas get inundated everytime it pours down heavily. Rains over the last three days, for the 11-member family of septuagenarian Raghavaiah, a retired headmaster in P&T Colony Dilsukhnagar, has been the worst ever experience with dirty drainage water mixed with rain water having entered his house. He has been living in his two-storeyed house for 37 years.
Rainwater from Saroornagar tank has overflown into areas like P&T Colony, Kamalanagar, Kodanadaramnagar, VV Nagar etc affecting at least 500 families and 5,000 people in Dilsukhnagar area.
It was sometime post midnight two days ago that water suddenly gushed into his house. “The major tanks are all encroached which is why water is overflowing to low-lying areas like ours. But, authorities should have forseen this and released water at regular intervals,” said Raghavaiah. His sons Satyanarayana Murthy, a High Court advocate, and Murali Mohan, a businessman, have not ventured out for over two days.
Apart from power cuts, intrusion of reptiles and other creatures, and shortage of essentials, the one major issue for them is lack of drinking water. “Since dirty water has come up to a height of 2 feet, our basement tank is also filled with the same. Drinking water comes only once in two days. There is very little water avaialble for our needs,” said Swapna, Raghavaiah’s daughter-in-law. “We are stuck here. We are not able to take out our vehicle. We are not going for work. Children are not going to school,” said Murali Mohan.
According to Raghavaiah, water gushing into houses is nothing surprising but the same not receding for over three days is. “Also, we are not able to sleep at night as we do not know if water levels will rise further,” he said.
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