Hyderabad: A year after Deepthi Srinagar Colony in Madinaguda was flooded, the widening of the nala to prevent a recurrence is expected to take another six months.
Many apartments were built on the Gangaram Cheruvu which led to severe flooding after heavy rains in August last year.
Due to official apathy and greed to buy homes, water was diverted and the lake reduced to a mere pond. When it rained, the water occupied the old lake, resulting in many apartments and independent houses being submerged in waist high water. To this day, water flows along the compound of several apartments.
A GHMC official said, “This area doesn’t exist in the original map as it is marked as the Gangaram lake which has been completely encroached. The satellite image shows lake adjoining the road, but many apartment complexes have come up on top of the nala apart from narrowing down the lake”.
Officials have taken up widening of the nala and have acquired many properties. An official said they were able to persuade owners to give up their properties by providing them TDR (Transfer of Development Rights). Work on the nala has been halted in view of the monsoon. An official said, “We will be resuming work in November and it would take four to five months to complete.”
While the area is yet to be marked safe, the official noted that the level of the road needed to be raised by at least one metre after the construction of culvert is complete. This may be done in May next year.
