Pending nala works irk citizens as monsoon to arrive soon

Hyderabad: Hyderabad is heading to yet another disaster as monsoon is fast approaching. The State government has failed to fix nalas through the Strategic Nala Development Programme (SNDP) project. It is apparent that crores of public funds spent by the government are just on paper, while the ground reality remains horrifying, with people struggle for 3-4 hours to bring back normalcy in their day-to-day lives with just rain.

As the city is receiving unexpected rain and the monsoon is round the corner, the civic activists and citizens have demanded the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to complete the pending nala work and development of lakes that are still progressing for many months.

Though the GHMC ensured completion of pending nala work ahead of the monsoon but it was at a slow pace. The activists and citizens want the work to be completed immediately without any further delay. They point out that most lakes in the city are underdeveloped even after funds were released.

The GHMC has taken up 371 de-silting works of nalas in all 30 circles. Of them 162 works are yet to begin. Commenting on nala works, activist Robin Zaccheus said, "It's a serious situation; people's lives are at stake once again.

It is disappointing to see Municipal Administration Minister KT Rama Rao and the TRS party social media agents busy defending themselves on social media, tweeting images of similar conditions in other States during the monsoon. Perhaps not a single tweet by the minister was seen concerning problematic areas like Malkajgiri, Neredmet and many areas in the Old City; some MLAs were on vacation."

Robin said KTR must not forget that he had assured people of Hyderabad during floods that his administration will fix areas which regularly get inundated, and that lake encroachments will not be tolerated and pending lake developments work will be completed on a war-footing basis. But the fact remains that most lakes and nalas in GHMC limits are still undeveloped, leaving rainwater stagnating on roads, she claimed.

The activist recalled the minister's quote during a press conference in 2020. "We can indulge in the larger debate on nalas and encroachments post the Hyderabad flood problem gets sorted out."

Robin said, "Apparently it has been two years; we haven't heard the government inviting experts and calling an all-party meeting to discussion and evolve full-scale scientific solutions to the problem. Rao should enlighten the public on the action taken based on committee reports, and satellite images on encroachments available with the Municipal Administration department."

Residents of the affected areas demand that the department must immediately coordinate with GHMC corporators, MLAs and leaders of all localities to immediately identify the water-logging areas and come up with permanent solutions. It should ensure that the damage caused by water-logging can be minimised.