Hyderabad floods: Crucial 2000 report of GSI lies ignored

Hyderabad: The recommendations of a Geological Survey of India report after the 2000 floods of Hyderabad were not implemented by successive governments.

The GSI had said that geomorphology had to be made a mandatory input parameter while considering creation of new residential colonies, and low-lying areas with slopes, natural drainage channels and surfaces should be avoided.

The GHMC, however, has continued to give permissions in these areas, resulting in fresh flash floods, stated experts. The GSI report on Hyderabad floods — Causative Factors and Suggestions to avoid Recurrence — had highlighted the reasons for the floods on August 24 in 2000.

The study was done by Dr H. Sarvothaman and Mr U.N. Satpathy using spatial and temporal growth pattern of urban Hyderabad, ecological and geomorphological factors that caused floods in Hyderabad. The study had found evidence of disorganised growth at several parts of Hyderabad, besides development of several locations unsuitable for urban life.

The worst affected areas were Masab Tank, Vijayanagar Colony, Ashok Nagar, Gandhi Nagar, Adarsh Nagar, Domalguda, Nallakunta-Barkatpura, Yousufguda, Musapet, Sanjeeva Reddy Nagar, Begumpet, Saroor-nagar and Ramanthapur.

The active channel of a prominent tributary of Musi River was blocked at Nallakunta-Barkatpura, and peripheries of many water tanks that existed in Hyderabad in mid-I960s were converted into residential areas. Several tanks and reservoirs that existed in the past have become habitats in recent times.

“Demarcation of low-lying areas, natural drains on surface of the prospective residential areas and measures to allow floodwaters to drain out as runoff would certainly avert disasters such as the August 2000 flood of Hyderabad,” the GSI had stated in the report.