No end to woes of residents near Shukur Sagar lake

For the second year in a row, areas around the lake got flooded

Amer Arif navigates his autorickshaw slowly from his marooned house to the main road on the edge of Shukur Sagar lake. As the vehicle lurches from side-to-side, it appears as if it will tumble into the water but manages to reach high ground. The road is actually a duckweed covered water channel after the recent flooding.

“I start my day like this and repeat it in the evening. I have no choice as the rent here is ₹2,500. In other places, it is three times that,” says Mr. Arif, who has been living in the same house for three years. Last year, the family used a ladder to go in and out of the house after their courtyard remained under water for five months.

For the second year in a row, the residents of houses abutting the Shukur Sagar lake have been forced to move to the houses of their relatives or friends. For Mohammed Salahuddin and his family, it is as if the water was chasing him. “After the water receded last year, we changed doors. Repaired furniture. Bought beds but again the water rose and flooded our house. My family moved to my in-laws’ place in Al Jubail Colony. That house also got flooded. Now, I am living with my relatives at Saidabad,” says Mr. Salahuddin, who drives a cab for a living. The ownership of his house is marked by the cellphone number on its freshly painted wall.