A rag picker collects discarded plastic searching through knee-deep heaps of garbage along Kukatpally Nala near Begumpet in Hyderabad.
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Bespoke garbage disposal systems in the city are many. One among them is discarding the trash in flowing nalas and the Musi River. Absence of a reliable solid waste management system is one of the major reasons for clogged storm water drains, resulting in inundation. This has been amply proven by the de-silting drives being taken up by the Hyderabad Disaster Response & Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) together with the respective municipal corporations at various points across the city over the past few days.
A recent operation in Chandanagar circle has yielded a bulk of cable wires discarded in the drain, which had trapped large amounts of garbage, and stopped the flow of water. When it rained, the water overflowed on to the roads and caused flooding.
The Aghapura drain that flows o the Musi river, got stuck at the culvert near Darussalam, where HYDRAA teams worked for eight days, and removed 20 truckloads of garbage. The silt removed included what’s what of urban life, including mattresses, chairs, pillows, sofa sets and heaps of plastic.
HYDRAA forces had to crack open the slabs covering the storm water drains to remove the drains of garbage.
“Breaking the slabs every monsoon is not an option. The drains ideally should be open. But due to complaints of stench from people, the local leaders put pressure on the municipal authorities and get them closed, but this clogs the drains eventually,” HYDRAA chief A.V.Ranganath said.
During the 10 days between June 19 and June 28, the HYDRAA teams have cleared 242 truckloads of garbage from the drains across 12 zones — Charminar, Golconda, Khairatabad, Kukatpally, Lz.B. Nagar, Malkajgiri, Qutbullahpur, Rajendranagar, Secunderabad, Serilingampally, Shamshabad and Uppal.
Disaster Response Force, and the newly-contracted monsoon emergency teams of HYDRAA are carrying out the de-silting operations, though de-silting is not the responsibility of the agency. Municipal corporations concerned hire agencies for de-silting operations during summer months, to keep the drains ready for receiving storm water.
“We cannot blame the civic bodies. A day after de-silting, we are receiving fresh garbage flowing down the same path, which means that public has made a habit of trashing the nalas,” Mr. Ranganath says.
None of the three municipal corporations in the city has a reliable and continuous system to dispose of the heavy household articles such as sofa sets and mattresses. “The furniture showrooms refuse to take the old sofa sets when they are replaced. Bed makers accept them, but they want the items dropped off at their facility. To evade transportation charges, residents dump them in the nearest drain,” an official said.
Swachh Auto Trolley operators are the only connection between the residents and the civic bodies for garbage disposal, but they charge hefty additional amounts to collect anything other than the regular waste, residents allege.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation conducted a drive seven years ago to collect scrap such as mattresses, beds, sofa sets, and other bulky items. It, however, remained a one-time initiative.
Published – June 30, 2026 08:57 pm IST
