Hyderabad | 1.6 crore population with 85 lakh vehicles in HYDRAA’s jurisdiction

HYDRAA, a disaster response agency in Hyderabad, aims to protect public assets like parks, roads, open spcaes and water bodies. It also intends to protect from urban flooding with precise early warnings.

The Indian Meteorological Department was created in 1875 after a devastating cyclone killed tens of thousands in colonial Bengal. “Similarly, the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) has been created for a similar purpose to tackle urban flooding and disaster management in the modern and rapidly urbanizing State,” said A.V. Ranganath, commissioner of the civic enforcement agency created a few months back, while speaking at an event held in Hyderabad on Friday (November 22, 2024) to commemorate 150 years of IMD.

“HYDRAA is a first of its kind agency with a task to protect public assets like parks, roads, water bodies and open spaces. Lakes and nalas have vanished. Even a two cm rainfall sends traffic for a toss. There is a paradigm shift in disasters as 33-34% of India is urbanised now and is likely to go up to 50%,” said Mr. Ranganath.

“We need early warnings about rainfall. A three hour window is not sufficient as alerting stake holders takes time,” said the HYDRAA commissioner as he listed challenges faced in managing disasters. According to the official, the jurisdiction of the agency is 2000 square kilometers that has 1.6 crore population with 85 lakh vehicles. “The spatiality and temporality of rainfall is changing. A general alert will not do. Only if we get specific and precise alerts, people will take it seriously,” said the official.

IMD regional head K. Nagaratna shared how the Telangana weather station was meeting the forecast requirements of the State with a number of observatories and sensors.