Hyderabad residents search at collection points for documents washed away in floods

Documents like Aadhaar cards, ration cards, school certificates, bank papers, electricity and water bills, land documents and other important papers have been washed away from homes in low-lying areas that were inundated last week.

People had no time to collect their belongings or papers as the water levels rose suddenly in the middle of the night. All that they could do was save themselves from the water’s fury.

Removing the slush, silt and muck from homes, people are finding that there is nothing which they can put to use. Soiled clothes, stinking utensils, soggy mattresses, broken and damaged furniture has left them with empty four walls as homes.

People are now returning to their homes to find that the water has gone away but left a dump in their homes. Their belongings have been irreversibly damaged and most of the things at home are upside down.

Those living in and around Falaknuma railway station state that they have nothing to call home. There are just four walls as the water took away everything that belonged to them.

Iqbal Sheikh of Al Jubail Colony said, “We are at the lowest point and there is nothing in our homes. My major concern is how will I get the school certificates, birth certificate and other documents for my child? How are we to now retrieve them? Will the government extend support?”

With families returning, they are looking around for their things which have been swept away. Many of them are also visiting the storm water drain outlets to check if there is anything found by the municipal workers.

R. Raju, a contract worker with the GHMC, says “People are coming to the collection centres to check if there are any of their belongings. All that is choked around drains is being removed and collected at various points. Those who are desperate are looking around. We have so far removed clothes, bags, soiled and damaged books, broken and mended utensils and lots of plastic from in and around the main points.”

Near Bandlaguda, there were huge chunks of plaster of Paris from marriage halls which have been removed. The marriage halls along this line were completely flooded and the structures created there were broken.

With some areas still waterlogged and another round of rains, the drains are full and there is little place for the water to go.