Hyderabad: Recurrent 'Rain Gullies' on Appa Cheruvu bund put officials on toes

Rajendranagar: Following reports of breach on the Appa Cheruvu bund at Gagan Pahad, the Irrigation authorities swung into action on Wednesday and took up repair work on a war-footing to avoid any further damage.

However, the lake is receiving heavy inflows from the upstream areas. The surfeit flood keeps rushing into downstream lake through a culvert passing beneath the under-construction bridge at Gagan Pahad Crossroads. As a result of incessant rain, coupled with heavy inflows, multiple rain; gullies are being formed on the bund, most probably due to gully erosion.

Said Vishwam, Assistant Engineer, "we took up repair work soon after learning the rain gully appeared on the bund two days ago. We employed around 60-70 labourers for the work and have almost completed it. As rain, coupled with heavy inflows, keep coming into the lake, pressure is mounting on the bund resulting in gully erosion. We have already informed the higher authorities, as they are competent enough to take a call."

However, the bund breaches time and again due to gully erosion became an unending saga between officials and contractors since last year. Every time the breach occurred, officials rushed labourers for a temporary patch-up.

As the bund was constructed temporarily following last year's deluge that claimed several lives of people living near the lake the rain gullies were appearing every now and then only to attract a token response from officials who took up temporary soil-filling as an impromptu measure.

It was in May this year that the pre-monsoon showers caused cracks on the bund. Only after local people alerted them, the irrigation officials turned up to the lake to take stock of the situation. However, the gully erosion again emerged in July hinting at a possible breach of bund only to receive a lukewarm response from authorities griping lack of labourers due to pandemic and at times want of funds.

The September 27 incident was the third such instance in the row last year as gully erosion on the bund keeps appearing in the absence of concrete measures to stem the issue.

The lake, brazenly exploited due to encroachments over the year, posed a great risk to people living around and on the course of the furious water body that, if turned furious, would trample everything on its way, as it happened last year.