HYDERABAD: Civic authorities were now not in a position to show screen the waft in storm water drains and sewer traces for the length of the rains over the final two weeks, as most of them had been encroached. Nodal companies are now asking the utter government to work on the grasp plans and put in force them or else the metropolis would be inundated now not supreme for the length of monsoon but on every occasion it rains.
The three spells of devastation were now not an act of God but the finish consequence of human negligence, an unswerving stated. Over three years, now not lower than Rs 1,000 crore government property and Rs 5,000 crore deepest property had been damaged within the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Company (GHMC) limits, the unswerving stated.
The metropolis has no grasp thought both for storm water drains or the sewerage community. For 9,000 km of roads, the metropolis has supreme 1,000 km of storm water drains. The staunch resolve would be twice the avenue length, or 18,000 km.
The metropolis has supreme about 4,000 km of sewers, that too within the core metropolis which may per chance perchance perchance be short of an overhaul. The suburbs both haven’t any drain community or the work to procure them is incomplete. Hyderabad feeble to procure about 750 mm of rain in a year, of which about 175 mm came about in September. On the opposite hand, snappy urbanisation changed all that. For the previous three years, the metropolis has been receiving over 1,100 mm of rainfall every year.
The metropolis witnessed big floods in 2000, which resulted so that you can beef up the storm water drain and sewer community. The federal government hired Kirloskar Consultants in 2002 as technical consultants to draft a drainage grasp thought for the MCH predicament, then comprising 71 drains totalling 169 km in a 170-sq km predicament.
In accordance with their peek, the MCH took up enchancment of the Murki, Balkapur and Kukatpally nalas with Jawaharlal Nehru Nationwide Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) funds. The works may per chance perchance perchance be finished supreme on a few stretches as a consequence of non-removal of encroachments and properties within the others.
The grasp thought prescribed wider nalas, with the draw that they must support for 50 years. This required a big selection of encroachments to be eradicated. The procure became as soon as as a consequence of this reality modified with a one-year return. On the opposite hand, after discussions, it became as soon as proposed to retain higher widths for predominant nalas which had big catchment areas.
As this became as soon as being labored out, the government merged 12 adjoining municipalities with the corporate in 2007, which multiplied the problem. It sparked snappy and uncontrolled urban yell and alternate of land use.
This impacted the community of urban lakes which affected the drainage of extra water when it rained. Lands were encroached upon and lakes grew to turn out to be smaller. Choked lakes themselves grew to turn out to be polluted.
Additionally, the Kirloskar and other reviews were restricted to the MCH predicament. The GHMC, which had turn out to be a 625-sq km behemoth, retained Voyants Solutions Pvt. Ltd in 2008 to intention up a grasp thought. They divided the GHMC predicament into 16 hydraulic zones and submitted the detailed mission reports (DRPs) for 102 drains totalling 221 km in length.
The GHMC for the time being has 390 km of main drains — up from 169 km barely 15 years ago.
After the formation of Telangana, the government interesting proposals to widen nalas at 43 stretches over a total length of 100 km at a save of Rs 2,300 crore to forestall flooding at most inclined areas. A drone survey became as soon as also conducted. The federal government sanctioned Rs 230 crore in 2017.
On the opposite hand, the works were stopped halfway due lack of solid political will. The apathy resulted in flash floods in October 2020. Wound to the government property became as soon as estimated at Rs 567 crore within the GHMC predicament as also thousands of crores worth deepest property.
Inserting aside Kirloskar and Voyants committee reports, the government asked the GHMC to put together a comprehensive budge thought to strive in opposition to metropolis floods and sanctioned Rs 910 crore to desire in 64 works.
Then came the Strategic Nala Construction Programme (SND), which officers call an eyewash. It’s supreme an extension of existing networks with minimal land acquisition to widen the nalas, they stated.
A civic unswerving stated the SNDP became as soon as ensuing in fracture of public cash. Officers stated without addressing the core relate by setting up the storm water community of now not lower than 15,000 km, the problem of urban floods wouldn’t be solved.
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