Urban News

HYDERABAD: Fifty per cent enhancement of stormwater drains coverage by 2011 and cent per cent by 2016 so as to eliminate flooding due to rains completely. That’s the avowed objective of GHMC’s Capital Development Plan when a consultant was selected for the comprehensive master plan for stormwater drains.

It could well turn out to be a pipe dream with GHMC neither having funds nor political-administrative will to take it up considering its past record. Voyants Solutions, the consultant, has already submitted a detailed project plan dividing the capital into 16 drainage basins and estimated it to cost Rs. 6,246 crore.

Integrating a similar plan prepared by Kirloskar Consultants for storm water drains within the erstwhile MCH, the plan suggests construction of major and minor drains, improvement of tanks, structural compensation, land acquisition, rehabilitation/resettlement in two phases.

While senior officials claim sufficient funding was available under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), due diligence is yet to begin. A more onerous task of the project is to widen and allow free flow of excess rain water which means removing encroachments on banks of stormwater drains and rehabilitating evacuees.

Stormwater drain improvement became imperative ever since the August 2000 deluge when twin cities saw large scale urban flooding. Save for construction of retaining walls at some places where there were no habitations, little progress was made following the Kirloskar report, which among others, recommended widening of drains shrunk to less than two metres at some places.

In the last five years, the Municipal Corporation could remove only 343 of 1,375 encroachments to remodel main drains of Murkinala, Hussainsagar surplus nala, Kukatpally/Begumpet nala and Balkapur nala when nearly Rs. 200 crore was available. Just about Rs. 34.67 crore was spent for works tuning to 31.73 km length.

Even work of fencing the drains to prevent people from falling in them and to prevent garbage/debris from being dumped has been tardy.

And as per the Master Plan, at least 13,500 encroachments have to be removed and people living there have to be rehabilitated while structural compensation has to be paid for 27,810 buildings. Officials say 1,000 new housing units are getting ready at Kukatpally for rehabilitating evacuees and work would be done phase-wise once JNNURM funds materialise.

Till then, citizens have to live with drains having a capacity to cater to 12 mm rainfall an hour.

Anything more means water stagnation on roads and flooding of low lying areas.