Authorities gear up for the worst

The torrential rainfall across the city for the past three days has taken a turn for the worst. People living in low lying areas like Kawadiguda, Indira Park, LIC Colony, Red Hills among others exist in perennial fear of their houses being flooded with rain water. The Hussain Sagar Lake which abuts the areas has reached the Full Tank Limit (FTL).

Though, the civic bodies have been taking all measures to prevent any calamity from taking place, the residents still fret over the waters encroaching their homes. One resident said, “There used to be a restricting wall earlier. But now it has become porous which is a reason for concern for the people living in this vicinity. Even the overflowing naalas are gushing with full force.”

On Friday afternoon, the Tank Bund flood gates were opened to release excess water as the tank had already reached 513.43 ft marking on the FTL chart. Unfortunately due to the excessive amounts of garbage present in the naala, it is choking the water outflow. The GHMC has identified a total of 46 areas which are prone to water logging. In the last three days, the officials have received 53 complaints with regard to water logging which the officials claim have been attended to.

The Kavadiguda Community Hall has been converted into a shelter by the officials where residents of the vicinity will be housed in case of a calamity. Suresh, a staffer at the Mandal Revenue Office, said, “This hall can hold upto 100 people easily. It is also equipped with drinking water, electricity back-up generators, toilets and other amenities that the people might need if they are to be kept here.”

Mohammed Majid Hussain, Mayor and Somesh Kumar, Commissioner, GHMC along with conducted an inspection of the Hussain Sagar Lake. On inspecting, the commissioner said that there is no immediate danger to all the low lying areas. He has also asked all the zonal officers and wings to gear up with all the precautionary measures.

The officials were instructed to keep the recognised community halls ready in case of any untoward incident. The commissioner has appealed to all the citizens to call 155304 to report any problems or grievances.

Meanwhile, Hyderabad Collector Mukesh Kumar Meena said revenue officials and concerned mandal officials were reviewing the situations time-to-time in the city. He added that in all, two houses were completely damaged and about nine houses were partially damaged. Revenue officials noticed that about 700 houses were inundated at Afzal Nagar in Asif Nagar.