Hyderabad: Fear-stricken Fox sagar residents vacate houses

Jeedimetla: Incomplete works of retaining walls of nala near Foxsagar lake have created a panic among residents living on the banks of the lake, as they once again fear of facing water inundation during monsoon.

After experiencing the floods in the previous year's October rains which led to an overflow of the lake and flooded many areas in Jeedimetla causing severe damage to houses, and the residents faced a lot of difficulties.

Immediately after the floods, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) decided to distil nalas and construct retaining walls across it. However, the GHMC took up the works but didn't complete them and has left the construction site incomplete which became more dangerous for the residents to live near to it. With no option left this year, they started evacuating their houses amid the monsoon.

Residents of Yadav Nagar, Subhash Nagar, Gampalabasti, Srinivasa Nagar, Sainagar, Dattatreyanagar, and Ganesh Nagar have already evacuated their houses located in low-lying areas of Jeedimetla.

A resident Hari Kumar who has been staying in the flood level zone for the past ten years had to once again leave his house. He said, "In the previous year's rains we didn't expect that the lake would overflow, and floods caused us lots of difficulties. In the middle of the night, we were rescued by a disaster team and all my family members were shifted to rescue camps."

Hari further said that this year works were started to prevent floods but the works have not been completed, so taking it as a warning sign all the residents decided to evacuate houses and come back after the monsoon.

It was not the only family of Hari who was rescued last year, over 30 families living in the low-lying areas and on the banks of Foxsagar were rescued as their houses were completely submerged and their vehicles were washed away in floods.

One such family in Jeedimetla lost one of their family member in floods. Yadamma was washed away in the 2020 floods and her body was recovered after several days. Her son said "They cannot risk their loved ones' lives by living in the flood-prone area and have temporarily shifted from their home."

Waterlogging has become a common issue during every monsoon for the locals of Jeedimetla. The same problem is being faced by the people every year.

"In previous year floods vehicles were also washed away in Srinivasa Nagar and Sainagar, even tenants vacated houses after facing floods but lost financially. The authorities have been showing negligence even after undertaking the construction of retaining walls without resolving residents' hardships," said Shanmukha a resident.