Early onset of monsoon catches GHMC off guard

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation’s monsoon preparatory work is wanting in a number of aspects, while the authorities blame the early monsoons for the predicament.

Long stretches of roads are still dug up or not re-laid after being filled, posing danger for commuters. Nala de-silting is a half-completed job with the excavated silt heaped on the roadside at several locations. Widening of the stormwater drain has not been finished at several locations, and open drains continue to pose grave danger.

Trenches dug for various works still lie open near Mehdipatnam foot overbridge, the Fort Road in Gudimalkapur, Road No.1, Banjara Hills and several other areas.

“The stretch from Virinchi Hospitals up to the Taj Krishna junction has been dug up for nearly two months., which has reduced the road width considerably leading to traffic issues. The restoration works have started only recently, after the monsoons have arrived, and the works are the cause of traffic snarls now,” shared Shafiur Rehman, a local resident.

Restoration works have not even started on the stretch between Mecca Colony and Anas Model School in Tadban near Shamseergunj where the road was dug up for stormwater drain works.

One more infamous instance is the road that passes via Qutb Shahi Tombs, a heritage complex and tourist location. The road remains dug up for years, say the residents of the surrounding colonies.

“Fun fact: A friend’s kid was born when the Seven Tombs roadwork started. That kid is now going to kindergarten. Meanwhile, the road is still a crater-filled warzone. Time moves on. GHMC? Not so much,” posted one Muzaffar on social media platform X, in a long thread about the road’s condition.

At several other locations such as Chintalkunta, Jubilee Hills, and Serilingampally the trenches dug up for sewerage works have been filled up, but restoration works have not been taken up so far.

GHMC is the sole authority to grant road cutting permissions to all agencies, whether private or public. The corporation collects road cutting charges from the utilities, so that the road can be restored after the work is finished.

Officials in charge admit that there was inordinate delay in granting the road cutting permissions this time, due to hiccups in work redistribution in the Engineering wing. The works which were to begin in November, began towards the end of January. Added to it is the early arrival of monsoons, which were not expected till June-end.

“To the field level Engineering officials, we gave time up to June 10 to wrap up the pending works and make the roads motorable. Our teams are on the job,” assures a senior official.

Part of the reason is also the transition from the agencies to which the Comprehensive Road Maintenance works were granted. During their five year stint, the CRMP agencies were authorised for granting the road cutting permissions on several major stretches, and also were responsible for restoration works.

Desilting

While GHMC has awarded tenders for desilting of stormwater drains much ahead of time, the work done is hardly enough to withstand one bountiful rain, as proven in case of Chandanagar area, which was flooded after Tuesday’s rain.

Commissioner of the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency, A.V.Ranganath who inspected the drain near the Lingampally Road Under Bridge (RUB), noted that the drain was clogged completely by volumes of garbage. HYDRAA forces had to be instructed to clear the trash and facilitate free flow of water.

“Silt was piled up by the drain at Aramghar crossroads, but not removed immediately. With one rain, all the silt would be back in the drain, along with the public funds spent on the work,” fumes a resident.