EXPOSED: A stretch of road in the posh East Maredpally area after Thursday's shower. - Photo: P. V. Sivakumar.

HYDERABAD: Come monsoon, it is a flood of woes for citizens of Hyderabad. Get drenched, remain stuck in the traffic and wade through knee-deep muddy waters - a Hyderabadi has few other options when it rains.

And as usual, lofty rhetoric apart, remedial action from the authorities after last year's punishing lessons has been sluggish. Wednesday's rains proved just that. Apart from clearing around 200 regular water-logging points across the city, attempts to set right the faulty storm water drain system in the city are still in an embryonic stage.

That, if any doubts exist, means that this year too, water will seep into houses in low-lying areas like Prakashnagar, Ambedkar Nagar, Kacheguda and Chappal Bazaar. These, along with Udaynagar in Shaikpet, Laxminagar in Golconda, Mangarula Basti in Asifnagar, Chandrababu Naidu Nagar near Lalapet and Nagamaiahkunta were among those who bore the brunt in July last when rain lashed the city.

List gets longer

The list of areas becoming victims of the slow-tracked storm water drain remodelling is getting longer with each monsoon, with dug-up roads in Ashoknagar, Gandhinagar and East Marredpally rubbing in the salt. Chaderghat, Balkampet and Bagh Lingampally too have joined the usual suspects.

The Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad, for its part, claims short-term measures to plug the loopholes are in place. "Re-modelling storm water drains will take time, though works began last year, because nearly 800 km have to be remodelled," a senior official says.

MCH Chief Engineer R. Dhan Singh says the Corporation is quite ready for this year's monsoon. "We are definitely more prepared than last year. We have rectified problems at nearly 200 stagnation points and our zonal emergency squads, along with the Central Emergency team, are already alert," he says.

As for the remodelling, Mr. Singh informs that identification of major nalas is over and that work is grounded at most points. These included the Hussain Sagar surplus nala's course near Fever Hospital, Ashoknagar nala, the Malkapur channel and Murkhi Nala in Old City among others. MCH Commissioner Sanjay Jaju, who reviewed the situation on Friday, has already issued directions to officials to be on the alert, Mr. Singh adds. All these claims will be put to test when it rains next.

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