Hyderabad: With several areas getting water-logged over the past two weeks due to heavy rains, theMunicipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) on Wednesday directed the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to construct 472 storm water drains in all the six zones of the city.
The MA&UD body has allotted special funds to the GHMC to take up storm water drains to ensure public safety. It may be mentioned that this decision has been taken after the several zones in the city were flooded due to heavy rains in September.
According to the Government Order (GO) released by the Principal Secretary, MA&UD, Arvind Kumar, an amount of Rs.298.34 crore has been sanctioned by the state administration to construct 472 storm water drains, based on a proposal submitted by the GHMC.
Storm water drains, which will be up to 2 meters wide, are going to be built by the GHMC in the LB Nagar zone (Rs.71.61 crore), Charminar Zone (Rs. 29.75 crore), Khairatabad Zone (Rs. 22.24 crore), Serillingampally Zone (Rs. 29.27 crore), Kukatpally Zone (Rs .60.97 crore, and Secunderbad (Rs.19.18 crore), the total amount of Rs. 2333.02 has been proposed by the GHMC and other amount would be used for the repair and desalting works.
Furthermore, the municipal corporation on Wednesday also set up a control room at its headquarters to monitor the issues faced by the public during heavy rains. In view of the incessant rainfall, and with a heavy rain forecast, a control room has been set up by the GHMC to receive the citizens’ grievances regarding water loggings, water stagnation and inundation.
The GHMC officials will operate the control room from a central location, for which 12 officers have also been appointed to monitor the situation in case of heavy rains in the city. All officials including additional commissioners and head of the departments of the GHMC have also been directed by the civic body’s commissioner to attend monsoon emergency duties.