Botched up drain works inundate colonies in Sainikpuri

A botched up storm water drain work is resulting in inundation of colonies in Sainikpuri and pollution of Kapra lake in Medchal Malkajgiri district for the past two years.

Pandemonium prevails at SS Enclave in Sainikpuri which is adjacent to the storm water drain between Nagireddy Kunta in Yapral and Oora Cheruvu of Kapra, every time it rains. The area gets flooded in a mix of storm water and sewage, and residents suffer for days, all owing to the construction of the storm water drain at a lower level than the intake well as part of the Strategic Nala Development Programme.

Priya Iyengar, a resident posted on the social media platform X, sharing video clips of the colony getting flooded when it rained continuously for two days. She alleged that the zonal commissioner and the Divisional Engineer of Malkajgiri never respond to calls.

“During summer n winter no noise at all. Just one down pour the tinkering job starts [sic]” she said.

By tinkering job, she meant the attempts to drain the flood water from the SS Enclave, for which temporary trenches are dug from the open drain up to the lake, circumventing the intake well portion. However, this compromises the lake’s water quality, says Manognya Reddy from Kapra Lake Revival Group which organises drives to clean up the lake.

Owing to the failure of the drain, often the storm water backs up, inundating the homes upstream of the drain. Owing to the rainwater build up, sewage manholes start overflowing, polluting the water, which is drained into the Kapra lake through temporary trenches. Often, the trenches are assumed as the attempts by the officials from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation to fill up the lake to make it ready for Ganesh idol immersion.

However, Engineering officials from GHMC have a different tale to tell. Executive Engineer of Malkajgiri Circle R. Laxman said it is not possible to contain sewage from entering the lake during the heavy rains, as it gets mixed in the storm water.

“We have provisions for diversion of the sewage during the dry seasons, because the flows are minimal. During heavy rains, the volume is very high, and it is not possible to ensure sewage diversion. It is applicable to all lakes where sewage diversion is provided. Construction of a sewage treatment plant alone is the solution,” he says.

About the trenches, he said they are the temporary arrangements before works to correct the levels are taken up. Admitting that there has been inordinate delay in taking up remedial measures, he said the storm water drain, constructed at an expenditure of more than ₹31 crore as part of the SNDP project, ended up at a lower level than the intake well, resulting in flooding.