Hyderabad, October 05: The State Government proposes to construct 21 barrages (gates) across the Hussainsagar near Hotel Marriott to control the outflow of flood water into the downstream of Hussainsagar Surplus Drain.
The decision was announced by the Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD), Anam Narayana Reddy during inspection of the low-lying areas situated on the Hussainsagar surplus nala.
The barrage construction that is estimated to cost Rs 20 crore would be shared equally by Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) and the Irrigation Department. “The above works will be given top priority,” the Minister said.
The proposed barrages across the Hussainsagar will help them restrict the flood water in the lake itself and water can be released as and when required, into the downstream areas by opening the gates.
Anam Narayana Reddy has asked the Irrigation Department to prepare designs and estimate so that works can be started at the earliest.
Presently there are about 21 open vents near Marriott Hotel and water flows into the downstream of Hussainsagar surplus nala to Golnaka. The total stretch is about 5.5 km. In the event of heavy rain, water gushes into the downstream and poses a threat to the people living along nala stretch in areas like Ambedkar Nagar, Sabarmati Nagar, Arundathi Nagar, Subash Chandra Bose Nagar, Parts of Domalguda, Bapuji Nagar, Parts of Himayathnagar, Daata Nagar, Sriram Nagar, Satya Nagar, Ratna Nagar, Shivananda Nagar and Ganga Nagar. The Minister said that remodelling of storm water drains in Greater Hyderabad limits will be given top priority as funds are not a problem.
The heavy rains lashing the city over the last couple of days put the people living downstream on the edge as water levels rose steadily. No rains since last night has decreased the water levels and brought the situation under control. Continued rains could have made the situation dangerous and the slum dwellers living downstream would have to be evacuated to relief camps.
The last few days of rain has brought Hussainsagar to its Full Tank Level (FTL). The FTL is 513.58 metres and the present level of water is over 514.41 metres. The maximum holding FTL capacity is about 514.75 metres.
Yesterday, there was an outflow of 2,000 cusecs, now it is 1,800 cusecs.
Anam along with Minister for Medical and Health Danam Nagender, Minister for Backward Classes, Mukesh Goud, GHMC Commissioner S P Singh, GHMC Special Commissioner M T Krishna Babu and others also visited Lower Tank Bund, Goshala and Nagamaiah Kunta areas.
–Agencies–