Several colonies downstream of Saroornagar Lake experienced heavy flow of flood water post the incessant rains that marked the city for the past few days.
Colonies such as Kodandaram Nagar, VV Nagar, Kamala Nagar and P&T Colony witnessed sudden surge of flood water on the streets two days ago.
Residents had to bear stench and inconvenience as the sewage mixed rainwater kept overflowing from a sewerage manhole for almost two days. Efforts by GHMC’s monsoon emergency teams and local people to contain the overflow did not bear fruit, and the water reached up to Dilsukhnagar.
Residents took to social media to vent their frustration about the state of affairs.
Upon enquiry, GHMC officials informed that an effort to drain surplus water from the Saroornagar Lake misfired and drowned the colonies downstream.
“Six flood gates were opened at once, leading to the situation, whereas ideally, three gates should have been opened for a longer duration,” an Engineering wing official said.
After 2020 floods, the sluice gates of Saroornagar lake were deepened and renovated so that the lake could be drained beforehand ahead of monsoons in order to control floods.
“As part of SNDP, we also diverted flows from Singareni Colony directly to Musi river before they reached the lake. This, together with repair of the culvert near Chaitanyapuri, addresses the flooding issue completely, but the infrastructure would not be sufficient if all six gates are opened at once,” said the official.
At Chaitanyapuri, only one vent out of the six was working in 2020 as the other five were closed due to illegal encroachment by commercial establishments, widening of the road, and the construction of the Metro Rail. As part of the SNDP, the encroachments were cleared, and five vents were freed, facilitating free flow.
Inflows into the Saroornagar Lake spiralled after the stormwater from Meerpet and Jillelaguda Lakes was redirected into it a few years ago. Coupled with the narrowed surplus channel, the lake frequently overflows and inundates downstream colonies such as Kodandramnagar and Seesala Basthi.
