Stinky, Disease-Infested Houses: Hyderabad Struggle with Monsoon Flooding
HYDERABAD: Heavy rainfall over the last three days has caused severe flooding in Safdarnagar and Rajiv Gandhinagar in the GHMC’s Kukatpally zone, turning the monsoon season into misery for residents. Murky water, drainage water, and sludge reached up to three feet inside houses in the area, and a few snakes were spotted in the flooded houses.
Families are struggling with basic needs: smaller houses are unusable, children are falling ill, and the elderly and disabled are forced to clean their own houses. Many families of seven or more are finding it hard to sleep due to the flooding, as they do not have beds and usually sleep on the floor.
Although the other five municipal zones in GHMC have promptly worked towards removing the stagnated water from low-lying areas, the Kukatpally zone has severely lagged behind in helping the people.
According to S. Suresh, a daily-wage worker at a tile shop, “Nearly every house in Safdar Nagar had two to three feet of water. We’re still trying to clean up, but the water mixed with sewage and smells terrible. It’s really hard to stay in our houses because of the awful smell and the mess. People have also spotted snakes inside their house.”
Noorjhagan Begum, a homemaker in Safdarnagar, told Deccan Chronicle, “We found a snake in the water inside our house. We couldn’t use the bathroom or eat because of the horrible smell. Our children are also having a hard time. We need the government to pay more attention to these issues.”
Residents of Rajiv Gandhinagar voiced their frustration, saying, “The rain has made our children sick, and we're struggling. We need the government to take proper action. We're still dealing with water inside our homes, which took three days to start clearing. Some houses still have standing water. We don't know what to do.”
GHMC commissioner Amrapali Kata has visited the areas and her team has worked towards clearing the waterlogging and providing two meals a day to those affected.