Hyderabad: Heavy rains on Tuesday night have led to silt from the sewage drains to overflow on the roads in the Sainkpuri, Kapra, Yapral, Old Alwal, Malkagiri residential colonies as the drains were filled with plastic, glass bottles, paper, tea cups, condoms, sanitary pads, diapers and other waste dumped in them.
The drains are clogged as they are open at many places and these in turn lead to them getting converted into open garbage points.
A senior officer in Malkajgiri circle explained, "This is a regular problem as even if we clean them in the morning, by evening they are full again. The problem is that people are throwing stuff from moving cars at night, dumping near garbage bins which are then being strewn around by dogs and also there are apartments which are connecting to the main sewage line instead of having their own septic tank."
Since the time the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation stopped the cleaning of septic tanks, apartments and individual homes have connected their sewage lines to the main rainwater drains, converting them into sewage pipes. These are usually being let out in the lakes and some of them in the peripheral areas have been connected to the main sewage plant.
But unprecedented and incessant rains in September have brought all the silt out from drains on the roads making them slippery. There are a few patches in the city in residential and commercial areas that are severely affected as the rain water has caused pressure at the end point of the drains.
Similar conditions were also noted in Tope Khana Road which was badly damaged due to yesterday night's rain. A thick crust of alluvium discharged from Osman Gunj nala embedded on the entire stretch and sewage entered into the shops and houses.
Following the rain, streets in Osman Gunj and Begum Bazar were flooded with sludge and slime was scattered everywhere. Shopkeepers of Tope Khana Road complained that the situation has been the same for almost a half century. Every time the city receives heavy rain, Osman Gunj nala overflows for hours and the sewage enters into our shops and houses, year after year. We are not able to do business for two to three days as customers avoid entering the stretch. The unbearablly bad smell continues for many days.
Sludge and slime entered into Majestic Metal Works and United Scale and many shops and houses on the Tope Khana Road. The owners of the shops on the stretch were removing mud from their shops. Mr. Om Prakash, who runs a calendar business, said the GHMC has no interest in solving the problem of the spewing nala in the rainy season, which causes havoc in our street. He said the civic body failed to remove the encroachments on the nala. He said public representatives have no interest in solving the problem. He said that due to the disaster of the nala, the Hyderabad police has shifted the Begum Bazar police station.
