GHMC, CMC and MMC gear up for monsoon flood management in Hyderabad

GHMC, CMC and MMC have intensified monsoon preparedness works, including desilting nalas, strengthening retaining walls and improving flood safety measures across Hyderabad. Officials aim to prevent waterlogging and urban flooding as the city braces for the upcoming rainy season.

Hyderabad: With the monsoon expected to hit the city in a week or so, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), Cyberabad Municipal Corporation (CMC) and Malkajgiri Municipal Corporation (MMC) are gearing up to handle flood-related issues in their respective jurisdictions.

In April, two months ahead of the onset of monsoon, the civic bodies started desilting open drains in low-lying areas, implementing safety measures to be followed along the nalas shore areas, and completing the balanced works of retaining walls. For the first time after the GHMC trifurcation, the Commissioners prepared road maps to tackle urban flooding.

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As GHMC is already an established civic body, officials identified critical areas and deployed machinery for desilting nalas to prevent flooding. Apart from this work, officials took up remodelling of existing nalas, construction of retaining walls and culverts, and other civil works, which were in progress.

However, the CMC and MMC, bifurcated from the erstwhile GHMC, appear to be lagging in desilting works compared to GHMC.

When heavy rains hit Cyberabad during last year’s monsoon, several areas of IT corridor witnessed significant traffic jams due to heavy waterlogging, and people were stranded for hours together in traffic jams. Normal life was paralysed after various colonies experienced flood inundation.

An IT professional in Gachibowli said that for Hyderabadis, this was not unusual, as the city is infamous for its flooding woes each time heavy rain lashed Hyderabad and Cyberabad areas. “Civic body officials have to gear up to tackle it,” he quipped. IT professionals in Gachibowli, Madhapur, Manikonda, and Hi Tech City are clearly perturbed at possible woes from heavy rains.

“The desilting of nalas started two months ago and is currently at a brisk pace and geared to tackle heavy rains,” a senior CMC engineering and maintenance wing official told ‘Telangana Today’.

Meanwhile, the MMC officials also took up key works including desilting in low-lying areas where a heavy flood threat posed to the areas, addressing overflowing congested nalas, fencing open nalas properly to avoid untoward incidents, and putting up signages alerting people. “All measures have been taken to prevent monsoon flooding,” said a MMC engineer.

The GHMC Commissioner RV Karnan instructed engineers to take up the desilting of nalas, restore parapet walls and ensure the nala was barricaded, besides chain fencing and other safety measures. These measures should be taken up immediately after the desilting of nalas and ensure to handle heavy floods.

Meanwhile, the DRF teams of Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (Hydraa) are also ready with men and machinery to tackle the rainy season to clear waterlogging and to prevent untoward incidents at the open drains in three civic bodies.