Downpour in Hyderabad exposes gaps in monsoon preparedness
The first rain of the season that lashed the city on Tuesday, exposed several chinks in not only the infrastructure, but also how the city
The first rain of the season that lashed the city on Tuesday, exposed several chinks in not only the infrastructure, but also how the city has prepared itself for the monsoon. Preparedness in view of the city’s previous experiences with heavy rain was sorely lacking among the civic officials, who started the exercise on the verge of the impending rains. Added to it was the fury of the first rain in the city, which recorded a highest of 13 centimetres on Tuesday, amid predictions about deficit rainfall and Super El Nino. Roads resembled streams, gobbling up vehicles and delaying traffic for hours. “Human life is just a number for our leaders in power.
Two youngsters lost their life @ Bandlaguda due to electricity department negligence,” posted one user named Mirza Hyderabad, on social media platform X. None of the posts was answered by the power distribution company, which has the responsibility of maintaining the health of the power distribution system which ensures that the supply trips when the circuit breaks, especially during monsoon. Video clips were shared of the elevated corridor between VST and Indira Park which had experienced severe water stagnation, reminding a similar instance from last year when Kothaguda-Kondapur flyover was flooded due to heavy downpour. Meetings were held among the Traffic Police, municipal and disaster response officials when it happened last year, and clogged vents were determined to be the reason.
The knowledge went futile as no exercise was undertaken by municipal authorities before monsoon to unclog the vents. De-silting works have not been completed and tenders for the monsoon emergency teams have not yet been finalised despite the rain forecast much ahead of time this year. Instructions for enumeration of the dilapidated structures, a routine exercise as part of the monsoon preparedness, were issued by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation on June 5, merely four days before the first heavy rain of the season. Hyderabad Disaster Response & Asset Protection Agency commissioner A.V.Ranganath, who monitored the monsoon emergency response on Tuesday, blamed garbage accumulated in the drains and on the roads as primarily responsible for the inundation.
“Rainwater flow brings a lot of silt and garbage, which clogs the drains. There were also a high number of tree falls, which are wont to happen during the first rain. While de-silting operations are going on, public also needs to act responsibly by not dumping garbage in the drains,” Mr. Ranganath said. He recalled an instance in Virat Nagar, where the drain which had been de-silted just a month ago, was clogged again due to fresh garbage dumping.
The BriefWire