It’s been nearly a week since the Indus Crest apartment complex in Hyderabad has been reeling under darkness. The housing complex has around 250 families and is spread across 7 acres in Tellapur, which is in the city’s IT corridor. According to its residents, who are mostly in the IT sector, the power supply and water supply was cut on October 13 night following heavy rains. The power was disrupted, they say, when water flooded the basement which houses the apartment’s electrical board.
With no end to their plight, several residents have been forced to vacate their homes. “Not just for work but basic survival has also become tough as there is no power or water supply. Because of this, several residents have temporarily moved out of the complex and are living elsewhere,” said a resident, who does not wish to be named. Following appeals by residents on Twitter, teams from disaster management arrived to provide relief.
Indus Crest Apartment in Osmannagar #Tellapur has suffered massively with water entering its basement. 3 days of no power and water supply. 250 families wait for Govt help. @KTRTRS @CommissionrGHMC please help us. #HyderabadRains pic.twitter.com/yzFylfXBzj
— Abhishek (@Dumberdol) October 17, 2020
Speaking to TNM, Indus Crest Apartment Secretary Pratap said, “Yes, the Disaster Management team is working with motors to pump out the water from the complex. But it's not easy as the water level is upto 25 feet. The work is still going on.” Meanwhile, alternate arrangements were made for the supply of water.
According to residents, Chelikunta lake, which is located near the apartment complex, breached resulting in massive flooding. In September this year, the state government had cancelled no objection certificates (NOCs) and Non-Agricultural Land Assessment (NALA) Act permissions given to Indus Crest as it had encroached the lake. A committee had found that the apartment complex had come up within the buffer zone or full tank level of CheIikunta lake.
Pratap, however, says that Indus Crest was hit hard by the floods owing to ongoing construction. “The apartment’s second phase construction is going on, due to which large pits were dug large in the area, which got filled up.”