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Rain, rain, what a pain never a gain
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A century after the big deluge, rain remains a terror for Hyderabadis. Serish Nanisettidiscovers three parallels and the unlearnt lessons
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Photo:Mohammed Yousuf
Still waters A view of marooned Nadeem Colony where people were evacuated using boats
Even in the streets and throughfares far away, the water was high enough to drown an elephant.
No. This is not the discription by the people living in Nadeem Colony in Toli Chowki, but is an eye-witness account of the great flood that still remains etched in memory. Then there is this eye-witness account:
“On Friday night, there was a small river separating Mehdipatnam from Toli Chowki. The entire place was crowded with residents trying to help vehicle owners drive through the water carefully - they were guiding people by allowing just one vehicle at a time so the driver can accelerate and not get stranded. The moment some vehicle stopped, 7 or 8 people rushed to the spot to push the vehicle to a side ensuring way for other vehicles. Anyone who tried to get down from the divider or come in the way of the effort was beaten. Later, I learnt that the water crossed the divider and cars could only float. It took me three hours to reach Attapur from Madhapur.”
Tragically ironic. In the 100th year of the great flood of Monday, September 28, 1908 Parson ki Tughyani (deluge of day before yesterday) we have another flood. Then about 15,000 people had died when 17 inches of rain fell in one 24-hour spell, now only 11 people lost their lives when 20.7 cm rain fell. Then 3000 people seeking shelter at Petla Burj were swept away when the water broke the banks of the river. Now, only a few cars were swept away. Between that tragedy and this tragedy is the tragedy of August 23, 2000 when 28 cm rain fell and swept the embankments of not the Musi but the Hussainsagar lake’s drainage canals.
Between these three tragedies is the story of lessons learnt and unlearnt.
Following the destruction of 1908, the foremost hydraulic engineer M. Viswesarayya was asked to submit a report to prevent a recurrence, he submitted it on October 1, 1909. It led to creation of a City Improvement Trust that built the Osmansagar and Himayatsagar reservoirs to store the rain water for the city’s drinking needs. An extensive drainage system was created and the main shopping throughfare Patherghatti was created by him.
After the 2000 flood, only the books in the library of Sundarayya Vignyana Kendra have dried and the embankments still are clogged by the people who call it their home. A big plan to clear the embankments of habitations remained just that.
In 2000, the Army was called in to evacuate people living in the Nadeem Colony in Toli Chowki, in 2008 they were evacuated using the Tourism Department boats. The names on the boats have changed not the plight of the people.
In 1908, 383 couples whose marriage was arranged before the flood were solemnised at government expense.
Then Mahbub Ali Pasha came onto the road to oversee the relief in his Dolphin. And it got stuck and people came to give it a push.
On Sunday, as people tried to reach their work, to reach the airport the traffic is stopped for the minister who came to visit a wedding in Ashoka Function Hall in Gudimalkapur.
To make smooth way for the cavalcade, policemen stood in swirling waters to direct it and to stop it, took the curses as the big man zipped away in comfort. Bringing to mind this song:
Bandenka bandi katti
Padharu bandlu katti
Ye bandlekkosthav kodko
Nizam circaroda?
Balladeer Gaddar sang this to mock an autocracy and a democracy at the same time. Now we don’t know how to mock the current dispensation.
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