Hyderabad: City’s roads, markets get flooded every monsoon, due to no re-channelling of rainwater into the water table, harvesting pits. Rainwater blocks roads and eventually fall into polluted lakes and nullahs, which can’t be reused and gets wasted.
The temporary floods bring all the pollution with them containing clay, polyethene bags and pollutants.
The GHMC had invested Rs 27 crore on monsoon preparedness towards road repairs, de-silting of nullahs and cleaning of storm water drains this year, DC reports.
But the contractors manipulated the quantum of silt removed, and the number of trips they made to dispose of the silt was increased due to fuel and vehicle charges. A constructive solution is building a wide stormwater drain network, running parallel to the road, one that would have outlets into pits that connect to the ground water table.
A senior officer of the GHMC revealed, “A total revamp of the storm water drains would cost more than Rs 7,000 crore, of which not even Rs 1000 crore has been spent. Every year, GHMC calls for tenders to desilt nullahs, the contractors are supposed to first weigh the silt and then dispose of it. The 842 encroachments on drains have not been touched due to pressure from certain quarters. Non-availability of clear stretches, contractors revising flood period estimates to calculate the widths and depths needed to hold up works… There are issues with annual desilting, too, and contractors playing truant for a while refusing to transport silt, are the primary reasons for the poor state of storm water drains.”