Only 40 families on Musi bank prone to urban flooding: River board

Hyderabad: Although several colonies and thousands of families who live along the Musi banks are at risk of flooding as the city has been receiving heavy rainfall for the past month, the Musi River Development Corporation Limited (MRDCL) thinks otherwise.

While GHMC and revenue department officials evacuated at least 1,500 families in the Charminar area, the MRDCL authorities claimed that only 40 families were under imminent threat. The MRDCL conducted a survey of the Musi river over a 55 km stretch, from Gandipet to ORR-East at Gowrelli and Himayat Sagar to Bapughat, using drone technology.

According to MRDCL officials, the revenue department reported 9,218 constructions totalling 55 km of encroachment along the Musi in the three districts of Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, and Medchal-Malkajgiri. This year alone, around 1,500 households along Musi were evacuated and relocated to rehabilitation centres by the GHMC staff and the revenue officials.

Some areas under risk of flooding are MGBS, Chaderghat, Amberpet, Puranapul, Attapur, Golnaka, Asifnagar, Golconda, Bahadurpura, Nampally, Charminar, Himayatnagar,and Saidabad. However, according to MRDCL officials, only Shankarnagar Colony in Old Malakpet and its 40 families are more vulnerable to flooding. They claimed that the remaining encroachers are not vulnerable and cannot be removed because of political compulsions related to the upcoming elections.

The corporation has been able to remove two permanent constructions and roughly 230 meagre encroachments while the city has been dealing with major urban flooding challenges. Only two permanent encroachments, together with 16 huts and 14 commercial car sheds in the Charminar and Amberper mandals, respectively, were effectively removed by the government in 2018. There were 135 huts, 1,500 rickshaws parked unlawfully, 97 business sheds, and three vents in the Bahadurpura and Nampally mandals in 2019.

Meanwhile, MRDCL officials claimed that as part of Musi Rejuvenation and Beautification, they removed junipers and shrubs to reduce the mosquito menace, and cleaned the Musi Riverbed to allow for free flow between Bapughat and Nagole Bridge. These initiatives are expected to cost roughly Rs 8.50 crore.