Hyderabad: Rain water entering one’s house is one thing, but the city’s garbage mixed with an overflowing river is unimaginable for most of us. But that is exactly what residents of Moosa Nagar at Malakpet had to endure on October 14, when they were given a literal two-hour notice to vacate their homes. The houses are located at the smaller Malakpet Bridge and they faced the gushing waters even before they could realize what was going to happen to them.
“We have been cleaning our house since yesterday, and there has been no power as well. Everything has been destroyed, and there is slush in the house everywhere. We have been living here from over three decades, but never has such a thing like this had happened in the past,” said Mohammad Kaleem, a resident of Moosa Nagar at Malakpet who was removing muck and water from his house on Thursday.
With torrential rains lashing Hyderabad on October 13 and 14, the state government had no option but to open up all the 13 gates of the Himayat Sagar, which was built in the 1920s (under the erstwhile Hyderabad State, ruled by the Nizams) to stop the Musi river from flooding the city.
What it meant was the river forcing its way onto the lower Malakpet bridge, with part of it getting beaten to such an extent that parts of raining flew from one side to another. As for residents on the low-lying area of the bridge, water as high as five feet entered their homes, and along with it came garbage, muck and what not. It has left people devastated, as they will now have to restart their lives.
“Government officials came and told us to leave two hours before the water came into our houses. What are we supposed to do in two hours? Take everything and run? We have been cleaning our homes and removing dirt since yesterday, injuring ourselves in the process,” lamented Mohammad Omer, another resident.
All of Thursday residents of Moosa Nagar were busy cleaning dirt and even sewage water that had entered their homes. Several others, like them, had woken up to a trail of destruction that the torrential rains left on October 14. Since the city has been in a convalescent state. One has to wonder how long it will take for Hyderabad to return to normalcy, especially after being hit hard earlier by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
This is just one report about the worst possible situation in Malakpet and other parts of the Old City which has presented to you by siasat.com. We are trying to present our readers as many windows to the life devastating stories as possible.