More than nature’s fury, the administration made him feel miserable. This 59-year-old lawyer was holed up in his house in Dharani Nagar in Allwyn colony phase-2 near Kukatpally for close to 24 hours. Yana Babji was forced to bear pungent odour, witness snowy froth of industrial effluents and mocked at by the Hyderabad Water Board.
“On Tuesday night, I heard my neighbour’s shouts and rushed outside,” shared Mr. Babji, “I saw white foam flowing along with the water in the bylanes of my colony. The level of the overflowing water from the nearby lake kept rising and the foam rose in the air whenever wind blew.”
Mr. Babji, then did what the State government had encouraged its citizens to do.
“At 1.15 am, I lodged a complaint on the Hyderabad Water Board app and got a ticket number immediately. At 10 am, I received a message that the issue will be addressed within four days and At 11.47 am, I got another message that my grievance has been resolved. The government machinery is habituated to misleading the public.”
In the incessant rains that lashed the city from Tuesday evening, dozens of colonies in Kukatpally, Nizampet, Miyapur and adjoining areas got submerged due to the the overflowing of chain-linked Pragathinagar tank, Yellamma lake along with the Jeedimetla nala which is filled with industrial effluents. “If the officials do not come to our rescue, then at least 50 apartments will be submerged,” said R. Mohan, a resident of Bandari Enclave in Nizampet which was one of the worst affected colonies. While pointing to the Thurka Cheruvu that abuts the layout, he said, “Whole night, the residents were scared that the lake will overflow and we tried to stop it with sandbags.” Residents of Deepti Shri colonies in Kukatpally were shocked with the sight of snakes.
