Synopsis : The recent flooding caused by the Musi River in Hyderabad made thousands homeless and destitute. However, the primary reason for the flood was not heavy rains but officials releasing huge quantities of water from Himayat Sagar and Osman Sagar — without warning, by opening all gates at once, releasing 30,000 cusecs of water.

This is an occasion when both an ancient river, which had long forgotten that it was a river and thought itself merely a filthy sewer bearing the reek of a crore people’s waste, and the people around it, were suddenly reminded that it was, after all, a river of life. Musi swelled. Musi surged. It overflowed, submerging the habitations in and around Hyderabad that had grown along both its banks.

Thousands became homeless and destitute. In the end, even the

See Full Page