HYDERABAD: Even after having safety audits of nalas in place for all the six zones of GHMC, people are falling into drains and losing their lives. Every year, at least a few incidents of people falling into nalas are being reported.
Sources said that the civic body is spending huge amounts of money every year to conduct the nala safety audit at zonal levels through agencies to ascertain safety of the existing drain network with an aim to reduce the adverse effects of nalas on people and properties. However, remedial measures are lacking, leading to incidents, many say.
On Wednesday, the bodies of two men were found in a nala at the Old Customs Colony of Begumpet. The victims fell and were reportedly swept away due to the heavy rains on Tuesday evening. Locals spotted the bodies and informed the police who reached the spot and with help of DRF officials, fished them out before shifting to the Gandhi Hospital mortuary.
Though GHMC zonal authorities are claiming that safety measures are being taken up by the civic body for the upkeep and safety of nalas, many of the nalas are found not to have proper retaining walls while the chain link mesh is missing. They said they are destroyed by miscreants, who sell them for scrap.
The officials said the people are found dumping garbage into the nalas and causing untoward accidents when there are heavy rains. Meanwhile, locals said that people are accidentally falling into the nalas in the absence of a retaining wall and losing their lives.
GHMC sources at zonal levels said that agencies identified weaknesses in the safety precautions, danger zones, vulnerable littering or waste dumping locations and suggested safety precautions.
Like every year, this year too, the civic body took up the nala safety audit for kutcha and pucca nalas through agencies at all zonal levels.
The Khairatabad zone has a robust stormwater drain (SWD) network spanning 250.70 km. In comparison, the Charminar zone maintains a SWD network of 202 km, while the Kukatpally zone’s network extends over 55.41 km. The LB Nagar zone covers a total SWD network of 135.25 km. Additionally, the Serilingampally zone manages a SWD network covering 42.98 km, whereas the Secunderabad zone maintains a network totalling 155.65 km.
