Hyderabad: If it was Hyderabad and Secunderabad earlier and now, it is Cyberabad’s turn to be marooned. Experts are now blaming the flooding — from Tuesday’s heavy rain — on the successive Telugu Desam and Congress governments, which not only allowed illegal constructions but also regularised them.
Nearly one lakh unauthorised constructions including those on lake beds and those blocking the path of rainwater were regularised, on the outskirts of the city.
These were costly mistakes — made for votes — and now, to rectify them, the government would need nearly Rs 50,000 crore, compared to the meagre Rs 1,500 crore revenue building regularisation schemes have given it.
As much as Rs 30,000 crore would be required to implement a storm drain system across Hyderabad, Secunderabad and Cyberabad. The TRS government has offered building regularisation scheme (pending in High Court) expecting Rs 1,200 crore revenue, said experts. Environ-mentalist, Devidas Magnani said government planners lack the will to correct mistakes.
“Our nalas, ponds and lakes are choked. Their natural patterns have been interfered with and the custodians (the government) are not giving a damn. Pleasing communities for vote banks must stop. In reality the illegal occupation of the nalas results in huge loss of lives and property which is more than the real estate value,” he said.
Other experts added that lessons have not been learnt from the August 2000 floods and there is still no disaster management plan for the city. Former professor at OU’s Regional Centre for Urban Studies, G. Vasath Kumar said: “We entered the lake beds and now the lake water is entering our homes. HMDA and GHMC are responsible for most of the lakes disappearing and allowing new colonies at full tank level areas,” he said.
Also, massive demolition drives against illegal constructions are being planned but never launched. As a result, 28,533 illegal structures still dot the nalas which narrow down to 5-feet width at some places as against a recommended 50-feet width.
“Hyderabad urgently needs ideas like the one in Barcelona. The city is like a saucer and yet authorities there created huge water catchment underground by identifying repeated rain water logging spots,” said V. Srinivas Chary of the Centre for Energy, Environment and Infra-structure Development at the Administrative Staff College of India.
