Brace for monsoon shocks as desilting works drag on

Serilingampally: The residents of Serilingampally, Kukatpally, Moosapet and Yousufguda are on tenterhooks. The first showers on Friday resulted in lanes getting filled with water, as the desilting works have not been completed to the extent necessary.

The city received 282 mm rainfall, and the traffic came to a standstill in the western part of the city where several IT companies are located. Serilingampally received about 104 mm of rainfall. Lokmanya, a software employee, said, "The city is bursting at the seams and the desiltation works are not yet completed properly." He added, "Every year, the civic body undertakes the operation more as a ritual than with a purpose."

Social activist and lake conservation expert Subba Rao says, "The removal of waste from the nalas has to be undertaken well in advance. There does not seem to be a proper plan in place."

By June 13, the GHMC officials claimed that desilting of nalas for 3, 93,341 cubic meters of work was completed. Madhav Rao, a resident of Yousufguda, asks, "If the GHMC had completed the works, why did the city come to a standstill with just a few minutes of rainfall."

This year, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) took up 327 desilting works at an estimated cost of Rs 38.24 crore, which constitutes 800.95 km of desilting.

Contractors allege that the GHMC is not making payments, while officials say that the contractors are submitting fake bills. The friction between officials and contractors is affecting the desilting works in storm water drains. It may be noted that in April, the desilting works in the Central zone had come to a halt with contractors refusing to start the work unless cheques were released.