Red stinking water floods streets in Hyderabad, creates panic among residents. Watch

A locality in Hyderabad was flooded with red-coloured and pungent-smelling water that overflowed from a manhole recently. At first people were alarmed due to the colour of the discharge but later many residents reported health problems after breathing in the stench.

Visuals of the water flooding the streets are viral on social media.

The incident happened in Subhash Nagar of Jeedimetla industrial area on Monday night, the Times of India reported. The Telangana Pollution Control Board (TSPCB), however, stated that there was no chemical smell in the discharge.

“The water flowed between 6.30 and 8 pm on Monday,” said B. Rajender, a TSPCB regional officer told the Deccan Chronicle. “There was no smell, which would be present if chemicals were in the water. We think it could be paint, as people sometimes dispose of paint into the drainage. If it had been a chemical, it would have left stains on the road, but that didn’t happen,” Rajender said. “We are still trying to find out where the water came from and will continue checking today and tomorrow.”

The drainage system in the area is connected to a larger sewer line. But officials of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) told the Times of India that there have been no prior reports of such coloured water flowing from the local sewer network. "This suggests that the chemical wastage was likely dumped directly onto the streets," said a water board official said.