Breached tank bunds being fortified

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, AUG. 26. A wave of panic swept across several localities situated around the lower Tank Bund area after rumours broke out about a breach to the Tank Bund on Saturday afternoon. The rumours which seemed to multiply every second scared residents so much that hundreds of families hurriedly locked their houses and moved over to safe areas.

It was indeed a comic situation at the open nala near the Ashoknagar crossroads to see people whispering about the Tank Bund springing a leak because of a "small breach". "Water is coming out. At any moment, the areas would be flooded. I heard that the police are trying to hide this information," one could hear the conversations of curious onlookers, who never realised that had tank bund really breached they would not have been where they were.

A drive through the slushy lanes of Ashoknagar, Gagan Mahal and Domalguda localities was certainly enlightening for a group of journalists. At every lane, the `Tank Bund Breach rumour' seemed to be having its own variants. If one group of youngsters was discussing animatedly the possibility of "Tank Bund breaching within six hours because of innumerable cracks it developed", another group was talking about "the breach getting bigger every minute".

"Katta Maisamma temple bhi dub gaya kathe", another family which was going out of the colony was heard telling a couple standing outside. The word spread thick and fast all over the city. Alarmed people began calling up the police control rooms and newspaper offices jamming telephone lines.

Repeated announcements over cable TV channels and the statement made by the Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, in the Assembly asking people not to believe rumours had little impact.

What seemed to have triggered the "Tank Bund Breach Theory" was a breach to the Foxsagar tank near Jeedimetla in the morning. The police rushed there and were making efforts to plug the breach using over five lorry-loads of cement and thousands of sandbags. This water was to reach Hussainsagar after traversing Bharat Nagar, Srinivas Nagar, Vivekananda Nagar, Dattatreya Nagar and other localities which were already submerged because of Wednesday's rain.

As a precautionary measure, the police had evacuated people living in low-lying areas. A running scroll about the Foxsagar breach on a Telugu TV channel and the water reaching Hussainsagar lake further confounded the situation, with alarmed people calling up their friends and relatives.

Meanwhile, there were reports about the Langar Houz tank developing a breach. Authorities rushed there and began taking up measures to strengthen the bund which developed cracks. Both these reports seemed to have led to the rumour that Hussainsagar which was already filled to its brim could not take any more water and, hence, would also breach.

The incident of some onlookers falling into the Foxsagar lake after a part of the bund caved in added fuel to the fire. All the 16 onlookers were rescued and were being treated. The visit of the Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, the Home Minister, Mr. T. Devendar Goud, and the DGP, Mr. H.J. Dora, to the tank had also led to rumours that the VVIPs went to the tank only because the situation was grim.

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Section  : Southern States
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