Hyderabad reservoirs get good inflows

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Hyderabad: After a considerable dry spell, heavy rains in the catchment areas have brought some inflows into Osmansagar and Himayatsagar reservoirs which were on the verge of drying up.
Osmansagar now has sufficient water to supply the city at the rate of 10 million gallons per day for more than four months, 138 days to be precise. Likewise, the water in Himayatsagar will be sufficient to supply the city for 140 days at the rate of 10 mgd.
However, Hyderabad will continue to receive short supplies of 20 mgd. “Though the reservoirs have received inflows, the levels are far from satisfactory. The restoration of normal supplies of 340 mgd water daily to the city, as against 317 to 320 mgd being supplied now, can be overcome only if the two principle reservoirs receive one TMC ft of water before the monsoon ends,” said a senior official of the Hyderabad Water Board.
Tandur, Vikarabad and Chevella in Ranga Reddy district are the major catchment areas of the two reservoirs. These areas and most of the Ranga Reddy district have received deficit rainfall in the last three months. However, heavy rains in the last 48 hours have translated to four per cent surplus rainfall.
Officials are expecting more rains in the next two days in the catchment areas of the two reservoirs with the weather department predicting heavy rains in the district in the next 48 hours.As of date, only 0.527 TMC ft water is available in the two reservoirs.
The situation is more comfortable in Singur and Manjira. The Singur dam has 20.284 TMC ft of water, which is enough for 365 days’ supply to the city at the rate of 120 mgd per day, this is in addition to supplying for the irrigation and drinking water needs of villages downstream.
Recent rains disrupt life in low-lying areas
Hyderabad: The heavy rains that lashed Hyderabad for the past two days have disrupted the life of residents in low-lying areas. Storm water has entered houses in places like Aman Nagar, Talab Katta, Ramnasthpura, Borabanda, Nasheman Nagar, Mayuri Marg, Kishanbagah, Madeem Colony, Fatima  Colony, Towli Chowki and other low-lying areas in the twin cities. 
These residents are bemoaning their damaged homes, saying they have suffered a loss of more than Rs 50,000 per family.
Several calls have been made to the GHMC water logging control room, however, most of the staff were unavailable and the calls have not been attended to.
Neena Kumari, resident of Mayuri Marg, said, “Since Wednesday night we have not slept trying to pump out the accumulated knee level rain water. Important documents have been destroyed. To protect them from getting damp, we have placed our television set and fridge in the neighbouring apartment. The walls have turned wet. The area corporator visited us on Thursday; despite this the situation remains unchanged.”
Ameena Begum, a resident of Aman Nagar said, “Children and senior citizens have been shifted to relatives’ homes. The flooding has also disturbed our regular activities. We had to take leave from our places of work to get rid of the storm water. The entire lane gets flooded during monsoons, for years we have had this problem. All the water gets stagnant in front of my house.”
The highest rainfall of 126.25 mm has occurred at Shaikpet rain gauge station. Gachibowli (82.75 mm), Madhapur (80.50 mm), Jubilee Hills (76 mm), Asifnagar (72 mm), Golconda (70 mm) and Srinagar Colony (68.50 mm) are the other stations which received the high rainfall in the last two days. The civic body received 54 water logging and 6 tree fall complaints at the 24/7 call centre. GHMC commissioner M.T. Krishna Babu has assured all possible help.
Next: Overflowing sewage floods church compund

 
Overflowing sewage floods church compund
Coreena Suares | DC
Hyderabad: The Holy Trinity Church at Chikoti Gardens is flooded with sewage water. For the last two days, the front of the church has been under knee deep water due to overflowing drains.
The church, which is attended by IAS officer Raymond Peter and former chief secretary Minnie Mathew, is close to the Kukatpally-Hussainsagar nala which carries sewage from Prakash Nagar and Mayuri Marg.
The nalas were originally open storm water drains connecting lakes and water bodies. However, most of them now carry urban sewage as large parts of the city do not have proper sewerage networks.
Owing to intermittent rains over the last two days, sewage water from the nalas has overflowed right next to the church, and as its level is higher than the church grounds, the church compound is flooded.
Parish priest Father Valentine D’Mello said, “We faced the same situation last year. Around Rs 1 crore was sanctioned by GHMC commissioner M.T. Krishna Babu in November 2012 to build a retaining wall alongside the church wall and also to install new pipelines. The work began in June 2013 but only 10 per cent has been completed. Now the contractor says that he will begin work only after Diwali.” He added that the flood water has damaged the church library and electrical equipment costing lakhs of rupees.
On Thursday, a small portion of the compound wall was broken to let the water flow out. “The moment it rains, fear sets in; if the water level increases in the next few days, the church, which was constructed in 1983, will be badly affected. The borewell in the area has become polluted and cannot be used these days,” said Hosey Tocher, church council member.
Sources said that the church has been unable to install statues of Jesus in the compound because opf sewage water. When contacted, Vijay Rao, GHMC deputy commissioner, Secunderabad division, said that the works had been stopped due to the heavy rains.
300 viral fever cases reported
Hyderabad: Over 300 cases of viral fever have been reported in the Fever Hospital and private hospitals of the city. This is due to the continuous fluctuation in the temperature.
The constant variations have added to the woes of the people who are suffering cold, cough and extreme body aches. Dr S. Srinivasan, paediatrician at Mahaveer Hospital said, “Children are susceptible to the fluctuations. We have seen a rise in the number of cases since a fortnight. The number keeps increasing as it is contagious.”
In Ranga Reddy and Hyderabad over 40,000 blood samples have been collected to check for dengue and malaria. There are also camps being held in Ranga Reddy district for diphtheria. A senior officer said, “The Fever Hospital records 30 cases of diphtheria every month.”