Nightmare still not behind the residents of twin cities

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, AUG. 26. The nightmare has not ended for the people of the twin cities though it has not been raining since Thursday. Panic gripped people of the Qutbullapur area when the Foxsagar tank developed a breach last night. At two other ends of the city, the Langar House tank showed signs of a leakage while the newly-built bund across the Safilguda lake has developed gaping holes and started to sink slowly.

However, no casualties were reported though rumours were rife of an impending gush of water in great torrents into the city.

Foxsagar breach

As a part of the efforts to plug the breach at the Foxsagar tank, revenue authorities were putting in stones, gravel and sand to halt the flow. But, the problem was that a breach had developed in a Dhoollapalli tank upstream and water was flowing into the Foxsagar tank.

The revenue authorities first plugged the leak in the upstream lake and have turned their attention to the second lake. The nalas were flowing to the brim and people in the areas of Subashnagar, Vivekanandanagar, Dattatreyanagar, Srinivasanagar, Maniknagar and other areas were evacuated as a precautionary measure. Meanwhile, authorities were hoping that there would be no more rain as it would aggravate matters.

Langar Houz chaos

There was much commotion at the Langar Houz lake with cracks developing on the road linking it to the Golconda Fort on Friday night. A portion of the parapet too had collapsed because of the pressure exerted by the gush of water causing alarm in Prashantinagar and Lakshminagar colonies.

Civic authorities who were keeping constant vigil persuaded the locals to allow them to open a vent to let the excess water flow. The road served as a bund protecting the two colonies (housing more than 5,000 residences). "Overflowing water from the Satam Cheruvu has been gushing into this lake and we have noticed cracks on this 30 ft road and the fear is it might collapse any moment," said Mr. Vijaykumar, a local resident.

The police who cordoned off the road have been making repeated announcements to vacate the houses and shift to a relief camp set up nearby. But, much to the chagrin of the in-charge Minister, Mr. T. Sitaram, who was camping there, many were reluctant to move.

But, the residents complained that the arrangements made at the relief camp were shoddy. The Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, accompanied by DGP Mr. H.J. Dora, made a flying visit to the Langar Houz, and enquired from the Irrigation department officials on the strategy to be adopted. The engineers said the bund would withstand the pressure and it only needed further strengthening using sandbags.

Safilguda blues

At the Safilguda lake, popular as "Nadimi cheruvu", residents of three colonies which were inundated by the flood waters staged a `rasta roko' all day, demanding that the gates of the lake bund be opened. Their plea was that the water had to be flushed out immediately so that their homes which were under water since the past three days are saved. The constructions in Balaramnagar, Seetharamnagar and Krishnanagar had come up bang on the lake bed and along its shore.

However, officials were averse to the idea as the flood waters were bound to inundate about 40 residential colonies downstream. Here, another water body, "Banda Cheruvu" was also flowing to its brim. "The consequences would be devastating. Imagine the huge volume of water from the `Nadimi' lake getting into the "Banda" lake and submerging 40 odd colonies," an official contended.

Frustrated at the delay in water being flushed out from their houses, the residents of the marooned colonies out of sheer desperation persisted on. Water was being slowly let out from a vent on one end of the lake. "There has been a marginal decrease in the water level. Releasing them at a time would be disastrous," a police official manning the lake tried convincing them.

The local legislator, Mr. G. Sayanna, irked at the repeated requests made by a vociferous section of the crowd, fumed, "Your colonies have come up illegally on the lake bed. The Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, is contemplating demolishing all such constructions in the twin cities. It is me who has been trying to save your houses."

A stunned resident muttered: "It is ironical that the officials who gave us permission to construct our houses are today dubbing us encroachers. We have built our houses with our heard earned money and after getting the clear permission from the authorities."

"We have been surrounded by water for three consecutive days, but nothing concrete has been done to bail us out. All our belongings - documents, valuables, household goods - are lying under water," another lamented.

The legislator said a committee would be constituted drafting members from the three colonies and the Malkajgiri municipality authorities to arrive at an amicable settlement to the issue. "Let us discuss the issue with the people living downstream", he told the gathering.

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Section  : Southern States
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