Hyderabad, Sep 28 (IANS) Vehicular traffic was barred on two bridges across Musi river, which was in spate on Tuesday following release of flood water from twin reservoirs of Himayat Sagar and Osman Sagar.

Hyderabad traffic police closed Chaderghat causeway and Moosaram bridge for traffic as a precautionary measure as the water level rose in the river following huge inflows from upstream.

The traffic on two key bridges was diverted, leading to traffic jams in Chaderghat, Old Malakpet, Amberpet and surrounding areas on both sides.

Senior police officials in coordination with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation were monitoring the situation. An alert was sounded at Moosaram Bagh, Shanker Nagar and other areas on the river bank.

Following heavy rains that lashed Hyderabad and surrounding districts over the last two days under the impact of Cyclone 'Gulab', water levels in both Himayat Sagar and Osman Sagar reached the Full Tank Level (FTL), forcing the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) to open the gates to release excess water in the river.

While two gates of Himayat Sagar were opened on Monday, four more gates were opened on Tuesday. The water level in the reservoir was 1,763.50 feet on Tuesday against the FTL of 1,763.50 feet. HMWS&SB officials said the reservoir was receiving 4,200 cusecs of water from upstream.

Four gates of Osman Sagar, popularly known as Gandipet, were also opened as the water level had reached the FTL of 1,790 feet. It was receiving 1,360 cusecs of inflows.

As Musi river flows through the city, authorities have alerted people living near the banks.

Meanwhile, a human body was seen getting washed away in Musi river near Moosarambagh. A video of the same went viral over social media. Some people saw the body floating and it got washed away downstream.

Traffic police has also closed the 100 feet road along Musi river near Puranapul for traffic as the road was inundated. The vehicular traffic was diverted at both ends of the road.

Interestingly, September 28 marks 113 years since the great floods of Musi river that caused massive devastation in 1908.

According to archival information, the floods killed nearly 15,000 people, destroyed about 19,000 homes and rendered 80,000 homeless.

Following the deluge, the Nizam of then Hyderabad State got Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar built upstream to control floods in Musi.

The Musi river runs west to east and separates old city on its southern bank to the new city on its northern bank.

Meanwhile, the Irrigation Department has constituted a team comprising 15 engineers to immediately inspect all 185 lakes in GHMC and the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) limits and take preventive measures to check breaches.

This comes after overflowing Appa Cheruvu (lake) inundated Hyderabad-Bengaluru national highway at Gaganpahad, forcing the authorities to divert the traffic going towards Hyderabad Airport, Kurnool, and Bengaluru.

--IANS

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