Prashasan Nagar is the highest point within the GHMC limits, standing at approximately 630 metres above sea level. Just north of it, near Gachibowli Stadium, lies another prominent ridge, about 600 metres high. This ridge forms a key watershed divide between the Godavari basin to the north and the Krishna basin to the south.

This means that a drop of rain falling on the northern side of the ridge—such as within the University of Hyderabad (HCU) campus—becomes part of the Manjira River basin. From there, it travels nearly 250 km to join the Godavari near Kandakurthi, and then continues another 900 km before reaching the Bay of Bengal.

On the southern side—for example, near Biodiversity Junction—rainwater flows into Khajaguda Lake, then through Manikonda Lake and Pedda Cheruvu before joining the Musi River near Taramati Baradari. The Musi travels about 250 km before merging with the Krishna River near Wadapalli, downstream of Nagarjuna Sagar, and then flows another 250 km to the Bay of Bengal.

Other notable high points in the city include Kasu Brahmananda Reddy (KBR) National Park, Addagutta–Mahendra Hills, Moula Ali Hill, Falaknuma Palace, and the Shamshabad airport area in the south. These elevated regions, along with the city’s natural slopes, hills, and valleys, influence the direction of water flow—mostly toward the Musi River. These inclines and declines are often unnoticeable from a car, but can be experienced while walking or cycling through the city.

Historically, tanks (lakes) were constructed along natural drainage channels to store water and recharge groundwater. Over time, however, many of these tanks have been encroached upon or paved over, and drainage channels clogged with solid waste. Combined with poor engineering decisions, this has led to flooding even in some of the city's higher-elevation areas. Toggle the Water Stagnation Points layer, as identified by GHMC, to locate areas with poor drainage that are prone to frequent waterlogging and flooding.

To explore these dynamics in greater detail, we’ve put together an interactive map allows users to overlay watershed boundaries, catchment areas, and stream hierarchies on high-resolution elevation data and satellite imagery. It’s a valuable resource for understanding how water flows, how tanks and channels are interconnected, and how to improve the relationship between built environments and natural drainage.

Click on the map to view the elevation at any point. Blue lines represent the natural drainage network, with line thickness indicating stream order. You can toggle the elevation layer to reveal satellite imagery underneath. By default, the basin boundary dividing the Godavari and Krishna rivers within the HMDA region is enabled.

If you’d like to visualize where a single raindrop anywhere in the world would end up, explore:- https://river-runner-global.samlearner.com/