Evolve action plan to prevent Hyderabad floods
There has been unprecedented, heavy rainfall yet again in Hyderabad and its surroundings. The Telangana capital, an ever-growing city, has been battered and subject to flooding in many localities with no relief in sight for the last few weeks. The calamity has already claimed around 50 lives and left a trail of destruction at a time when people were looking forward to Dasara festivities.
The 31 cm rain recorded within 24 hours last week was the city’s worst in 100 years. It was followed by three spells of rain ranging from 15 to 20 cm. The city roads became waterways, homes were wiped out, and cars and other vehicles floated around, piling up on one another. Even though it has been more than a week since the calamity visited, the people are yet to pick up the pieces of their broken lives.
Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao announced Rs 10,000 to each flood hit family and Rs 1 lakh to those who lost their houses while sounding an SOS to the Centre for an immediate relief of Rs 1,350 crore, against the total estimated loss of over Rs 5,000 crore. However, nature’s fury has left an indelible message. This should be treated as a wake-up call for a permanent solution to this recurring devastation in one of the most livable cities of the globe.
All those hundreds of water bodies and nalas, including the famous Musi River that traverses the city, which were hitherto encroached upon by buildings, have now regained their original shape and water spread area. It is high time the TRS government initiates action towards restoration of all the water bodies. There are several master plans prepared in the past on how to restore them that are gathering dust. There is no need to think of another one now.
What Hyderabadis need is an action plan to implement some of the earlier suggestions, including putting an advanced flood warning mechanism in place. Given the politics involved in removing the thousand-odd encroachments on a war footing with elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation around the corner, the state government should at least implement it immediately after the polls are over so that Hyderabadis can heave a sigh of relief by the next rainy season.