s Chennai reels under the impact of flooding from heavy rain, it ends up reviving memories of Hyderabad experiencing something similar in August 2000.
Lashed by a heavy downpour, the city remained under a sheet of water and all eyes were trained on Hussainsagar where the water level rose alarmingly.
And worries were about the lake located in the heart of the city not having proper facilities to discharge the accumulating water, which a committee of engineers constituted by the government later also ended up underscoring.
One of the recommendations was to create additional spillway to meet such situations.
Now, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is in the process of completing the construction of a low-level sluice on the bund at an estimated cost of Rs.2 crore. The facility is expected to be ready by month-end with a capacity of discharging approximately 500 cubic feet per second of water (cusec).
Discharge capacity
“The discharge capacity in terms of surplus water for Hussainsagar is 19,500 cusec, but during the flooding 15 years ago, the need was 40,000 cusec. The Tank Bund could withstand the pressure then yet the need is to create more outlets in case of exigencies in future,” explains an engineer attached to the GHMC.
The committee in the wake of 2000 floods drew up proposals for spill out facilities that demand a budget of more than Rs.40 crore.
A decision has not yet been taken on the recommendations, but meanwhile the civic body officials says they have created the new sluice more as a precautionary measure.
For this, the irrigation engineers have dug out a 1.8 metre tunnel in the bund portion, some 7.50 metre below the full tank level (FTL).
“The FTL of Hussainsagar is 513.41 metres and the new sluice has been located at 506 metres and the work on creating exit channels and other related work is to be completed,” said the official.
Another official said this would facilitate release of additional water in advance in case of flood forecast for the lake.
The capacity of Hussainsagar has been put at One TMC (thousand million cubic feet) and against its FTL of 513.41 metres, the present water level logs at 512.3 metres.
Officials described it as a normal level and deny arguments of environmentalist that the levels have come down due to efforts to dewater the lake.
“Even the sluice is not for that purpose. The water body cannot be dewatered with existing outlets as it needs a proper plan and facilities,” said a senior official, refusing to be named.
Officials deny arguments of environmentalist that the levels have come down due to efforts to dewater the lake
