GHMC’s stormwater drain plan yet to take off

Though the civic body was instructed to speed up the process, no action taken so far

Hyderabad: After last October’s flash floods, the city’s stormwater drains are a hot discussion topic everywhere. However, it appears that this has not inspired or even prompted the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to speed up the task the State government had given it after the October nightmare.

The State government had instructed the GHMC to initiate measures to strengthen the existing stormwater drain network and to set up new ones to avoid urban flooding in the city. The civic body, however, is lagging behind in drawing up plans and executing works.

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Officials were directed to come up with zone-wise plans and measures to mitigate the damage caused to floods. The focus was on clearing unauthorised structures in lake catchment areas, encroachments on nalas and other structures that obstruct the flow of water and result in flooding. Save for a few zones, including Kukatpally and LB Nagar, the others are yet to furnish the details. The idea was to identify works in the zones, which need to be taken up on priority and execute them by June this year before the onset of the monsoon.

Currently, the city’s stormwater drain network, including major and minor, covers about 1,295 km and 1,29,810 catch pits across the GHMC limits.

The Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department is also working out a strategy to mitigate issues connected with flash floods, apart from developing nala connectivity and removal of encroachments. This apart, last October, the State government had accorded administrative sanction for an amount of Rs 298.34 crore to GHMC for taking up 472 drain works across Hyderabad.

This was after Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao directed the corporation to commence capping and repair works on open nalas to avoid untoward incidents during monsoons. The municipal corporation had submitted proposals to lay, repair and cover 472 stormwater drains in Hyderabad at a cost of Rs 298.34 crore. However, these works are still dragging on.

A senior official from GHMC, however, claimed that a few works were done and many were under progress while others were in the tender stage. These works are being taken up at zonal levels and they got delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the official said.

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