Hyderabad: Open drains and manholes are proving to be life threatening, and so far, the GHMC has not come up with any plan to cover them. Unlike Gujarat, where the canals are covered with solar panels, the GHMC does have any such proposal.

In the financial year’s budget, Rs 500 crores were allocated to the health and sanitation wing (wing for the drains). The officials said that the city planners were roped in to structure plans for the drain.

About 5,000-km of stormwater drains are required to combat the flooding problem, but the city does not have more than 1,500 km of stormwater drains, and even those are uncovered and in poor condition.



In 2008, the civic body started the project to remodel and widen the stormwater drains with a budget of Rs 125 crores. However, even after seven years, only 40 per cent of the work has been completed. Encroachments also pose a big problem for remodeling. Currently, the project is focused on completing two major drains, from Lower Tank Bund to Musi and to Kukatpally.

O.M. Debra, a social activist, said, “In 2011, the Lokayukta, following a petition filed against the GHMC for negligence that led to the death of a woman who fell in an open manhole, had issued notices to the civic body to install grills on every manhole. But that has not been done. First, the drains should be closed and a grill system should be introduced so that even if people fall into the drain, they don’t get washed away”.