GHMC spends 41.38 crore on desilting of nalas

GHMC deployed 202 pumps for dealing with monsoon emergencies. Of the identified 195 water logging points, the civic body has cleared 157 spots

Hyderabad: As part of monsoon preparedness, the GHMC undertook desilting works covering a total length of 701.97 km and cleared 3.74 lakh m3 (cubic meters) of waste from a target 4.79 lakh m3 at a cost of Rs 41.38 cr by Thursday.

According to GHMC officials, each year before onset of monsoon, GHMC takes up Pre-monsoon desilting of storm water drains to ensure free flow of drains and nalas to prevent flooding of low-lying areas, roadside stagnation and traffic problems in GHMC limits.

In Charminar zone alone, the GHMC has cleared a quantity of over 1 lakh m3 as part of desilting works covering a total length of 281.79 km in length and spending 11 cr. Among other zones, in Khairtabad, the GHMC cleared 118.48 kms of length spending Rs 9.88 crore. A total of 345 works were undertaken in all the six zones, including L B Nagar, Serilingampally, Kukatpally and Secunderabad.

Apart from this, the GHMC deployed 202 pumps for dealing with monsoon emergencies. For monsoon, the GHMC's DRF (Disaster Response Force) teams will be taking care of emergencies and cases of felling of trees, during the season. GHMC has identified 30 major water logging points where 24 hours 'monitoring teams' are kept with pump sets to clear stagnant waters.

After the Hyderabad police identified 195 water logging points, the GHMC has cleared 157 of spots categorised under critical, major and minor under its jurisdiction, while remaining other comes under the purview of other departments. The GHMC has also taken up construction of injection borewells (a borehole drilled into ground to recharge the ground water by collecting excess rainfall runoff) at 44 major water stagnation points, after obtaining feasibility report from JNTU as a mitigation measure to water logging apart from it improving ground water table.