163 families relocated from Musi riverbed in Hyderabad; resettled in 2-bhk houses

Residents of Shankarnagar Colony in Old Malakpet move to new 2-BHK houses and their homes were scrapped.

A dull thud-thud sound echoed through Shankarnagar Colony in Old Malakpet on Tuesday (October 1, 2024) morning as workers used crowbars and hammers to salvage scrap from their homes as the River Musi roared across their houses. Unlike elsewhere in the country, there were no earthmovers as most of the residents had consented to move from the slum to two-bedroom houses allotted by the Telangana Government. A total of 163 families moved out and some were in the process of carting their belongings collected over the years.

“I have been living here for the past 25 years. 17 members lived in this house. I have four married sons. Only one of them was allotted a house. We left the house yesterday. And, today, we found some of our goods was stolen,” said Hajira Bi giving a walk through the four-room, 105-yard house painted in bright pink and green. “How will my family live in a 2-BHK house?” asked Ms. Hajira Bi.

Shankarnagar Colony has been a site of flooding in the Musi whenever the gates of Osmansgar and Himayatsagar are lifted. “The water reached up to waist level. We abandoned the house then. Now, we got a 2-BHK house is Saidabad area. How will we live with five children?” asked Mohsin who has been living in the area for the past 15 years.

A similar story was repeated by most residents. Families closest to riverbank hired workers to bring down frames, grilles, supporting pipes and removing electrical fittings by paying a daily wage of ₹1000. The salvaged material was piled on vehicles to be carted and sold.

“Nala saaf karna tha. Gharaan saaf kar diyey (they should have cleared the river, they cleaned up the houses). We have moved to a rented house after paying three months rent. We have been living here for 20 years. Yes, mosquitoes are a problem. Hygiene and bad smell are a problem. But how will we live in 2 BHK houses. We cannot build above or below it,” said Shaikh Jehangir of a 20-member family where the youngest is a 9-month baby Sahil and the patriarch Mujahid is 65. The houses with asbestos and tin roofs have built over the past few decades close to the river and have been sites of frequent flooding. During the October 2020 and August 2022 flood, the residents had made a plea to the government to resettle them in 2-bhk houses.

While the elders in the family worked out the logistics of moving out from their old homes to new homes, children appeared bewildered. “Nai pata (I don’t know),” said Nabiha Unnisa, a class III student of Learning Horizon School about which school she will attend now.