Hyderabad: 123 years after 1908 Musi floods, govt yet to learn prevention

Hyderabad: By this time in October, 1908, Hyderabad was devastated like never before in its recorded history. The mighty Musi river had overflown across the city a week earlier between September 28 and 29, claiming an unofficial estimate of about 15000 lives due to heavy floods.

The devastation to this day in Hyderabad’s history is unmatched and this year coincidentally parts of the city were once again flooded closer to the date of the 1908 Musi river floods. Ironically, the two dams built by the last Nizam of Hyderabad to save the city from the Musi’s wrath – Osman Sagar and Himayath Sagar – have today become a curse for people who built their homes on the river’s banks over decades as the river was held back outside the city.

The last week of September once against saw hundreds of pe