Hyderabad: City lakes set to overflow; several fill up & cross FTL

Hyderabad: Continuous heavy rain for the past five days has created a heavy impact on more than 60 lakes under the Hyderabad limits. Several lakes have crossed their full tank level (FTL) and are about to overflow if rain continues for two more days. Following huge inflows into Osmansagar and Himayatsagar, four gates of the two reservoirs have been opened. Heavy cusecs are being released into the Musi.

According to GHMC officials, water levels in Himayatsagar and Osmansagar have reached their FTL of 1,790 ft and 1760.50 ft respectively, two gates of Osmansagar and two gates of Himayatsagar were kept open since Sunday. As many as 665 cusecs of water is being released from the reservoirs downstream of the Musi. The water level of Hussainsagar is 513.45 meters (FTL 513.14 meters).

All tanks, including Osmansagar, Himayatsagar, Hussainsagar, and lakes have been found vulnerable as they have reached their FTL. The heavy rain has led to filling of Appa Cheruvu, Gurram Cheruvu, Palle Chervu, Hussainsagar.

The GHMC Monsoon Emergency teams and Disaster Response Force (DRF) teams have been put on alert. All the executive and deputy engineers of the Strategic Nala Development Programme (SNDP) are closely monitoring the inflows and outflows of the lakes.

After the Mir Alam Tank, filled with rainwater, flooded the Safari side of the Nehru Zoological Park on Tuesday, the zoo authorities had to shut down the safari park.

GHMC Mayor Gadwal Vijayalaxmi said, "With the downpour of 7 cm recorded so far in the GHMC limits and heavy inflows in the Musi increasing, the GHMC officials are on alert. They are making arrangements for locals residing in low-lying areas and along Musi river to shift them to safer places, if necessary."

Tanks such as Moosapet, Badlaguda and Balapur are also on the verge of breach. The GHMC and Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) have deployed special technical teams to monitor the water levels and to look after the safety of tanks and lakes during heavy rain.