031018-TH -M-5-When Musi Was in Spate
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After the deluge With homes and bridges destroyed, the city wasn’t the same * KALAKRITI ARCHIVES ter receded. Purana Pul stood strong but the approach to the bridge from both banks were cut off; several bridges were breached but Chaderghat bridge was most the most affected — it partially col- lapsed. The old and new parts of the city were cut off. Rescue operation involved searching for people stranded in- side their homes, on rooftops, and clinging on to trees. Search opera- tions continued for days, looking for bodies within the rubble. One of the photographs shows corpses now on display at Kalakriti Art Gal- on a heap of ruins after a building lery. The exhibition ‘After the De- collapsed. luge: Memories of the Flood’ held A portion of the City Wall bet- When Musi in collaboration with Krishnakriti ween Afzal Gunj and Musallam Foundation shows us how Hydera- Jung bridges was broken. Elsewh- bad was brought to its knees. ere, debris was all that remained The images, in gelatine silver of shops outside Dewan Deodi. was in spate prints, reveal the extent of dam- Victoria Zenana Hospital and Afzal age to the city’s bridges, bazaars, Gunj hospital suffered ceiling and hospitals, bungalows and other re- roof collapses. Those stranded in Kalakriti Archives encapsulates memories sidential spaces. It all began with a Begum Bazaar were rescued by cyclone in Bay of Bengal and from boats. of the great floods of 1908 through September 27 evening, as Musi be- original photographs gan to swell owing to torrential Long road to normalcy rains. Soon, relief centres were set up — :: Sangeetha Devi Dundoo images show the kitchen at Bad- NOTES FROM THE PAST Bridges submerged shahi Ashurkhana (which was one The floods on September How long does it take for nature to The archival information gives of the 10 kitchens that served 28, 1908, caused large- show us who’s the boss? Not viewers an idea of Hyderabad city more than six lakh people), and scale destruction to life much, really. It can happen within in 1908. River Musi runs west to food grains being distributed at and property. Loss of a day, over a few hours or minutes. east and separated the Old City on Purani Haveli whose gates were property and goods stood A natural disaster and the devasta- its southern bank to the new city opened to public. at an estimated three tion it leaves in its wake rewrites on its northern bank. From west Relief camps came up in the crore rupees. history and the destinies of sever- to east, several bridges connected area flattened by the floods bet- When the Musi broke both al hundreds of people affected by the two parts of the city — Purana ween the river banks, and at Afzal its banks in the early it. The tsunami and earthquake in Pul, Musallam Jung bridge, Naya Gunj Hospital. Panch Mahalla pa- hours of the day, very few Indonesia this past week and the Pul or Afzal Gunj bridge, and the lace, Julukhana Shahi, Asad Bagh buildings and familiar recent floods in Kerala are among Chaderghat bridge. and Fateh Maidan had temporary landmarks were even the several telling reminders of na- By 2am, flood waters reached shelters. visible in the area abutting ture’s fury. Purana Pul and continued to rise Central Relief Committee was the river. September 28 marked 110 years through the wee hours of the formed and a Relief Fund channel- Several buildings crashed since the great floods of Musi that morning, until 11am on September ised contributions that poured in one after another. cut off Hyderabad’s Old City from 28, submerging several bridges. A from Nizam’s Dominions and sev- The northern bank of Musi the new. Its scars ran deep. The photograph at the entrance of the eral parts of British Empire. bore the brunt of the floods, according to archival infor- gallery shows Musi in spate over (‘After the Deluge: Memories of flooding. About one mation, destroyed nearly 19000 the submerged Afzal Gunj bridge, the Floods’ is on display at Kalak- square mile of densely homes, left 80000 people home- with only the bridge’s entrance riti Art Gallery till October 14. populated areas was less and killed nearly 15000 arch being visible. Anyone who has archival material flattened. people. A photograph taken a few hours or personal stories of the floods - Kalakriti Archives Original photographs of 1908/ later shows the aftermath. By can email [email protected] and AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 09 from Kalakriti Archives, are 3pm, the bridge was visible as wa- [email protected]).