30-km storm water drain planned to prevent inundation in city: KTR

Hyderabad: Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao said steps will be taken to construct a 30 km long storm water drain in addition to the 20 km drain work taken up to the existing 390 km of the network in Hyderabad to address the inundation problem during rainy season.

Responding to a question raised by BJP MLC N Ramachander Rao in the Legislative Council here on Sunday, he said flooding due to cloud bursts was also experienced in other cities like Mumbai and Chennai.

However, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is taking steps to address the inundation of low-lying areas during the rainy season.

Terming the Kirloskar Committee report is impractical and cannot be implemented by any government, KTR said in certain locations, the roads have water stagnation for about half an hour, whenever heavy rains occur with more than 3 cm per hour.

This was due to blocking of holes of pits of stormwater drains by floating materials, garbage, plastics etc.

To address these issues, 153 Monsoon Emergency Teams have been deployed through GHMC with vehicles, labour, implements and dewatering pumps.

There are 30 major water logging points identified by GHMC where dewatering pumps are permanently placed and monitored by supervisory staff, he added.

That apart, the civic body has also taken up drilling of 50-injection bore wells at Major water stagnation points in technical collaboration with JNTU to address the waterlogging as well as to recharge groundwater, he said.

On the issue of pending completion of a Railway Under Bridge (RUB) for the last six years, the minister said the GHMC is taking steps to resolve the land acquisition issues.