Hyderabad: The GHMC has decided to dig 450 km of roads at 229 locations to construct storm water drains to tackle urban flooding. The digging could affect the flow of city traffic. The corporation is aiming at completing the work at the earliest.
The civic body has decided to raise the height of the roads on both the sides to make sure that the water would flow into the centre where the storm water drains would be constructed. Besides this, the storm water drains which would be constructed in the middle of the road would affect the stability of city flyovers and metro pillars.
The Bureau of Industrial Consultancy Services (BICS) and Centre of Excellence and Disaster Management of JNTUH have prepared a plan for remodelling storm water drains which would be free from the impact of urban floods. The estimated cost of the project is about Rs 4,933 crore.
According to highly placed sources, the road digging would include raising the height on the edges of the road and digging in the middle. There are fears that the digging in the centre of the road could destabilise structures like pillars of Metro Rail and skyways constructed under the Strategic Road Development Plan (SRDP) and flyovers.
A senior GHMC official dispelled the fears and said it would not destabilise any structure as the storm water drain pipelines which would be around 600 mm to 1000 mm in diametre would be placed only one metre below the ground level. He said that the pillars constructed in the middle of the road gives advantage to the corporation, as utility shifting has been done.
Asked about diverting traffic, the official said that there would be inconvenience to the citizens but to minimise traffic snarls the work would be taken up in small stretches and at night.
The GHMC official said that the 450 km storm water drains would be connected to 400 water tanks through different channels. He said that in order to connect the drains with the water tanks, road would be dug up at 400 locations besides the 450 km stretch. The official said that it would take up milling activities and the road would be adjusted accordingly for free flow of rainwater to the centre of the roads.
He said at some selected locations, the corporation would also construct rain water harvesting pits to recharge the ground water. “Road digging would be inevitable and commuters would have to bear the brunt with traffic snarls till the completion of the project,” he added.
