Woman mayor to lead Hyderabad again through flood crisis

Ranga Reddy: A woman mayor to lead Hyderabad again through a flood crisis, the election of the lady mayor now follows a devastating flood.

With the mayoral seat being allotted to women this time around, major parties are increasingly fielding women. All political parties are allocating higher seats to women. Rani Kumudini Devi was the first lady mayor of Hyderabad, she was in the mayoral seat when a devastating flood hit Hyderabad on September 18, 1962 following a heavy downpour. Lakes breached and the Musi was overflowing.

Thousands of people were rendered homeless and they were accommodated in government shelters. Many parts of the city were virtually in ruins, requiring a major re-development and redesign programme. Kumudini, who had just two years of experience as a Municipal Corporator, had prepared a roadmap not only to restore Hyderabad but also kept the city free of floods in the future. Kumudini Devi represented the Wanaparthy Legislative Assembly from 1962 to 1972.

Public said that Kumudini was a brave woman who took decisions independently without yielding to political pressures. Kumudini prevailed on the Nizam trust to hand over land for a multi-storey building for the poor. She also got land for the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) office where the present GHMC building stands. She removed encroachments on Naubat Pahad (Birla Mandir Hill) and developed public garden to avoid flooding. Political experts and activists now watch with interest if the new woman mayor, who will be elected early next month, will succeed in creating a master plan for flood management as Kumudini succeeded doing it earlier.