No relief in sight, rain brings Hyderabad to its knees
There seems no end to the rain fury. Incessant rain had several parts of the State, including Hyderabad, literally wading through knee-deep water on Friday and the death toll rose to 18. However, with rivers filled to the brim and reports of breaches to canals and tanks coming thick and fast, more are feared dead.
Over 67,000 people were evacuated from low-lying areas to 135 relief camps and over 4,000 houses were damaged. Officials said crops in 4.34 lakh acres were estimated to have been destroyed either partially or fully. In all, 12 NDRF teams have been pressed into service in Srikakulam, Guntur, Nalgonda, West Godavari, Prakasam and Mahbubnagar districts. In the State capital, the rain didn’t give respite even for an hour. 2.1 cm of rainfall was recorded in the city in the last 24 hours. Normal life was thrown out of gear with traffic inching at several places.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has kept eight emergency teams on the stand by to tackle any emergency situation. GHMC commissioner Somesh Kumar and Mayor Majid Hussain inspected Hussainsagar, which has reached its full tank level.
Residents in low-lying areas like Sabarmathi Nagar, Motinagar, Datta Nagar, Krishna Nagar, Arundhati Nagar, Ambedkar Nagar, Shivanand Nagar, Ratna Nagar and Arvind Nagar have been advised to shift to the nearby community halls in case of flooding. In other parts of the State, at least 10 were reported dead in separate incidents but their deaths were not confirmed by the government. With the Met department predicting more rain, that too heavy to very heavy in coastal districts and Telangana in the next two days, officials fear more damage and destruction.
Rail and road transport continued to be disrupted with several trains either cancelled or re-routed. Water levels in Krishna, Vamsadhara, Bahuda and other rivers continued to increase and 1.5 lakh cusecs is being released from the Prakasam Barrage. As many as 117 minor tanks were breached.
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