Hyderabad: Hyderabad turns dariyabad. Thanks to the encroachment on nalas and lake beds.
Encroachment of tanks, nalas and parks as well as illegal constructions in low-lying areas during the regime of the previous governments led to the devastation in Hyderabad floods, said Animal Husbandry Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav. He was speaking to press persons at Telangana Bhavan on Monday. The GHMC has identified more than 12,000 encroachments in the city during a nala survey taken up in October 2016 and completed it in January 2017.
Hyderabad witnessed unprecedented heavy rains for the first time in over the last 112 years. Key water bodies in the city that were instrumental in absorbing the rain waters have been illegally encroached upon resulting in inundation of floodwaters on the streets in several low-lying areas. While the Meerpet, Mantrala and Jillelguda lakes are brimming with water, Pale Cheruvu and Appa Cheruvu are overflowing resulting in large scale inundation of colonies in and around Hyderabad.
According to activists 190 lakes in GHMC limits have been encroached upon in the past couple of decades which is the reason behind the current situation. Several studies and recommendations to clear the illegal encroachments were made back in 2000, when the city had experienced a similar deluge, but nothing has been put into practice in the twenty years that followed. Reported India Times.
As per the historical documents, the area under water bodies has shrunk from 6,000 hectares to 4,700 hectares. A large number of lakes and small water bodies have been completely lost and construction has been done on them.