Hyderabad: Heaps of garbage and debris lie scattered around the Chaderghat area in the Old City of Hyderabad. Hordes of plastic bags, clothes and miscellaneous pieces of junk line up, unattended.

The area had witnessed massive flooding in late September, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate. A Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) cleanup drive followed soon after, but the latest images show the problem has only worsened.

This week, Cyclone Montha triggered an unusual spell of heavy rains towards the end of October, bringing up even more debris from the river, which as of now lines the banks of Musi.

As the government has sanctioned Rs 5,641 crore on the first phase of the Musi River Development Project, such incidents highlight the need for a permanent solution to the recurring problem, or at least prompt clean-up drives from authorities that will reinstate the public’s faith in Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s vision of a rejuvenated Musi.