HYDRAA has begun desilting a 3-km stormwater drain in Hyderabad’s Fatehnagar-Balanagar area after recurring flooding complaints from residents and business owners, with teams removing up to seven feet of silt and decades-old garbage from the channel.
The work was undertaken on Thursday by the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency’s Disaster Response Force and Monsoon Emergency Teams. It followed a complaint submitted by business owners from the Balanagar industrial area at HYDRAA’s public grievance forum, according to a press release issued by the agency.
The business owners alleged that encroachments were obstructing the movement of floodwater, even though other buildings had followed the prescribed drain boundaries. They sought the removal of the encroachments and accumulated silt from the stormwater channel.
HYDRAA officials said the drain was intended to be 25 metres wide at its origin and 40 metres wide in Fatehnagar. Its dimensions were specified in the layout of the Fatehnagar and Balanagar industrial estate, but the channel has narrowed significantly over time, the agency said.
The drain runs from Bharat Nagar bridge through Deendayal Culvert, Fatehnagar, Shobha Colony, Gautham Nagar, IG Puram, Begumpet and Prakash Nagar before entering Hussain Sagar Lake. The Fox Sagar drain joins the Kukatpally drain near Gautham Nagar, adding to the network of channels connected to the affected stretch.
The desilting work is expected to improve the flow of stormwater along the drain and provide relief to residents of Deendayal Nagar, where recurring flooding has been reported. The removal of silt and garbage is also intended to restore the channel’s carrying capacity, although HYDRAA’s statement did not specify the total volume of material removed or the expected completion date for the operation.
The agency has directed officials to identify and immediately remove encroachments along the drain. That instruction places the drainage work alongside an enforcement exercise, as the narrowing of the channel has been identified by officials as a factor affecting floodwater movement.
HYDRAA commissioner A V Ranganath reviewed the desilting work. The agency’s Disaster Response Force and Monsoon Emergency Teams are continuing the operation along the identified 3-km stretch, while officials are expected to assess encroachments and other obstructions along the channel.
