Andhra Pradesh: At nature's mercy

By Omer Farooq in Hyderabad

The southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, the fifth largest state in India, has received yet another deadly blow at the hands of nature.

Almost half of the state - including its capital Hyderabad - has been ravaged by the devastating floods caused by unprecedented heavy rain.

Natural disasters

1977: 10,000 die in coastal cyclone

1996: 2,000 killed in cyclone

1998: 150 perish in a flood

With a 970 km long coastline off the Bay of Bengal, Andhra Pradesh is often hit by natural calamities in the shape of cyclones and heavy rains caused by low pressure systems and depressions.

The worst ever calamity was in 1977 when a cyclone hit the coast and killed nearly 10,000 people.

An entire populated district in Krishna was washed away.

In the subsequent cyclones and floods, several hundred people died.

More recently in 1996, 2,000 people were killed in a cyclone in East Godavari district.

In 1998, a flood claimed 150 lives.

But such destruction in the past has been restricted to the coastal belt which has nine districts.

Bearing the brunt

This time, however, the state capital of Hyderabad had borne the brunt.

It has been the worst calamity for the city in almost 50 years.

The city received an unprecedented 24 cm of rainfall in a mere 24 hours on Wednesday and Thursday which is highest in its history.

Last time such rainfall on this scale was received in August 1954 when it got 19 cm of rain.

In September 1908, 15 cm in 24 hours also caused floods in the River Musi which passes through the heart of Hyderabad, killing hundreds of people.

But at that time the population was less than 100,000 compared to a whopping 5m today.

Officials say that the population explosion in the city, coupled with the haphazard growth of the city and unauthorised construction, have contributed to this calamity as much as the heavy rain and the floods in the river Musi.

Heavy losses

Hyderabad, which in the recent times has fast emerged as a leading centre of IT in India, has suffered heavy losses in terms of infrastructure.

Hyderabad is an emerging IT centre

With as many as 90 residential areas in the city under water (in some places under 10 to 15 feet of flood water) and roads getting washed away, it is obvious that it will take a long time before the city gets back on its feet.

Apart from Hyderabad, other districts which have been badly hit include Guntur, Krishna, Prakasham and Nellore in the coastal region, Kurnool and Cuddpah in the southern region and Nalgonda and Medak in the Telangana region.

The state Chief Minister Chandra Babu Naidu has said that 300 villages have been flooded and the assessment of losses in terms of agriculture and infrastructure will take a long time.