People seek OYO rooms after nala water floods homes in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: As many as 300 families of Sai Sagar Enclave, Trimulgherry in Hyderabad were stuck in waist-high water after the heavy rains on October 11 along with water from an open nala flooded their houses.

The residents of Hasmathpet were forced to hire OYO rooms after their houses were submerged. People from the colony alleged that the wall of the nala had broken two years ago, but it was not repaired.

Ms. Gayathri Avinash, a resident of Sai Sagar Enclave said, “I have been staying here for the past five years, but I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s been so difficult for all of us for the past two days. Even our basic needs like proper water supply, food or milk can’t be accessed, because all the drainage water has got mixed in the low-lying water tanks. I have a two-year-old baby with me. How will I look after her in this condition?”

Locals residing in low-lying areas had no option but to shift to their relatives’ places or book OYO rooms for the night. “I stayed at my relative’s place but my father-in-law and my husband booked an OYO room,” said Gayathri.

Besides, the pothole-filled roads through the enclave are also posing a serious threat to the passengers. Locals saw a car and two bikes fall into the nala on Saturday evening, following which a crane was hired to remove them on Sunday. As water has begun to overflow onto the roads, the ditches cannot be seen anymore, due to which vehicles and passengers are at great risk.

Another resident of the enclave, Mr Nagendra Rao said, “Getting inside the house yesterday was out of the question. This nala starts from Alwal near the RTC colony. The water from the nala is overflowing onto the main road. I’m a heart patient and am going for surgery next month. Yesterday afternoon we had to go out. When we came back, we couldn’t get in because the water had risen to 3-4 feet.”

Trimulgherry area comes under the jurisdiction of the Secunderabad Cantonment Board. “If we approach the cantonment board, they say this comes under the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). When we approach the GHMC, they say this comes under the Cantonment. We had called up the GHMC customer care number, but no action has been taken as of date,” he claimed.