Slabs on drains reason for flooding in Hyderabad: HYDRAA chief

Hyderabad: Concrete slabs laid over stormwater drains have emerged as one of the primary causes of flooding in the city, according to HYDRAA Chief AV Ranganath.

On Monday, June 15, the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) Commissioner visited Jubilee Garden (Kondapur), Shamshabad, Attapur, and Ramdevbaba Nagar.

Closed drains result in accumulated silt and large amounts of garbage in low-lying areas. Thus, water gets stagnant. It is mostly seen in Jubilee Gardens, Shamshabad, Attapur, and Ramdevbabangar in the Kondapur area.

Floodwaters from Botanical Gardens, Sri Ramnagar, and the Kondapur Police Battalion are designed to flow into Mondi Kunta near Meenakshi Towers. However, clogged silt has inundated Jubilee Gardens.

Officials said that if the stormwater drains had a system to allow access to the underground drains every three meter, desilting work could be carried out effectively.

Since Saturday, HYDRAA has carried out large-scale desilting operations and removed concrete slabs covering the drains in the Jubilee Gardens area. Officials identified near Meenakshi Towers that a flood channel, which should be 2.15 meter has shrunk to 1.5 meter due to encroachment, causing floods to swell.

Officials discovered that the channel interconnection system designed to divert sewage rather than direct the flood channel straight into Mondikunta Lake has contributed to the flooding.

Officials said faulty inlets at Ramdevbaba Nagar were preventing floodwaters from flowing into Oora Kunta, resulting in water stagnation on the Shamshabad Airport Road.

A similar problem was identified near Pillar No. 265 of the PV Narasimha Rao Expressway, where inlets designed to divert rainwater into the Mir Alam Tank had become clogged, obstructing the natural drainage flow.

They further noted that drainage issues were also reported near Pillar No. 191, where stormwater drains meant to discharge excess rainwater into the Musi River were not functioning effectively, contributing to waterlogging in the area.

Commissioner Ranganath has ordered the removal of slabs over the drains to the extent necessary for complete desilting. He also suggested open drains should be covered with grills.