Hyderabad: Rs 858 crores sanctioned for storm drains, nalas

Adarsh Nagar: In order to prevent and mitigate flooding in future, the State government on Wednesday sanctioned an amount of Rs 858 crores to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) for developing and maintaining stormwater drainage and nala system in the city.

Last October, the city experienced unprecedented rains, which triggered flash floods over a week, causingmajor inundation in many low-laying areas, affecting around 40,000 families.

The civic authorities felt that the existing the storm water drainage (SWD) system, subjected to encroachments, is inadequate to cater to the meetings of exponential growth of city in recent decades.

After carrying out a study of the existing the nala and the SWD system, the officials identified critical narrow points, encroachments on nalas, trunk mains and feeder nalas. A report was submitted to take up works on a mission mode.

Besides sanctioning the funds, the State government has established a Strategic Nala Development Programme (SNDP), a dedicated project wing in the city to plan and develop stormwater drainage system including development of surplus weirs, lakes, tanks and water bodies.

According to Principal Secretary of Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) Arvind Kumar, the GHMC Commissioner would prioritise the works in the first phase and would initiate necessary action accordingly.