HYDERABAD: Residents of several localities in the city have been living their worst nightmare for the past two days. Overflowing tanks and kuntas have left areas like Meerpet, Badangpet, Jillelguda, Balapur and Almasguda inundated, bringing normal life to a standstill.
Though the rains have subsided, tanks at Mantralaya, Balapur, Badangpet, Jillelguda, Nadergul, Baba Nagar, and Almasguda continued to overflow on Sunday afternoon, owing to increased inflows from the tanks upstream.
Many houses in these localities are flooded, with water levels up to 2-3 ft. A few areas have also been marooned off.
The dearth of stormwater drains in Meerpet and Badangpet municipalities are adding to the woes of residents. The drains here are of smaller sizes, which are not enough to carry huge volumes of water.
“We didn’t sleep all night yesterday ( Saturday), and had no food to eat. Our houses had water up to our knees. No elected representative or official has come to the locality to enquire about us,” said L Shekhar of Venkat Sai Colony in Jillelguda.
He added, “Water from tanks in the upstream areas are gushing into our localities as there aren’t enough stormwater drains to carry the load. Despite informing the local MLA and Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy of our plight, not much has been done to strengthen the system.”
Youth association feeds hungry residents
Sri Hanuman Youth Association of the Prashanthi Nagar came to the rescue of several hungry residents on Sunday by distributing meals. Residents living in the low-lying area of Lenin Nagar, whose houses were inundated, were shifted to a nearby community hall.
Body of man washed away in stream found
The body of Katika Jahangir, who was washed away in an overflowing stream at Kondurg of Rangareddy district, was traced on Sunday morning. His body was found stuck in the stream, around a kilometer away from the place where he fell and was washed away.