Municipal Administration Minister K.T. Rama Rao said in the Legislative Council that a multi-pronged solution and time-bound plan will be implemented to address the inundation of roads and residential colonies during heavy spells of rain in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits.
Admitting that the sewerage and drainage infrastructure was inadequate in the city, he said nalas had to be deepened and widened and work estimated at ₹300 crore had been sanctioned. He asked people to cooperate with the Government, irrespective of political affiliations to clear encroachments over nalas and lake beds. The encroachments were happening over the decades and new encroachments could have taken place in the last three years too, he added. There were court stays over some cases of Full Tank Level violations, he noted.
Bharatiya Janata Party member N. Ramachandra Rao raised the issue during the Question Hour in Legislative Council on Friday and Syed Jaffrey (MIM) and TRS members M.S. Prabhakar, Paturi Sudhakar Reddy, Karne Prabhakar also spoke of several lapses.
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Mr. Ramachandra Rao said people suffered last year and again this year due to inundation of several areas like Malkajgiri, Alwal, and surroundings areas and roads in the recent heavy rains. What did the Government do to improve the situation, he sought to know. The connectivity between various canals and tanks should be restored, he said.
The Minister said that the carrying capacity of sewerage and drainage system was only for 2 cm of rain in one hour. But, the city experienced cloud burst bringing rain of one month in just two hour many times. Another problem was while there were 9,000 km of roads in the city, there were only 1,200 km of storm water drains plus 390 km of major storm water drains.
The Kirloskar Committee in its recommendation few years ago suggested demolition of 28,000 structures. A decision would be taken at the Chief Minister’s level to remove structures on nalas and give compensation to the poor.
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Malkajgiri nala should be widened to nine meters and 350 structures would be removed at a cost of ₹100 crore. The clogged Durgam Cheruvu feeders would be cleared and restored and nalas near Malkam Cheruvu needed to be widened. Encroachments on Ashoknagar nala would also be removed, he said.