HYDERABAD: Gusting winds, which are common during the pre-monsoon season, claimed two lives and caused extraordinary damage and disturbance here on Monday, exposing the precarious condition of Hyderabad’s infrastructure.
The winds brought down one of the floodlight towers at the LB Stadium, resulting in the death of a 53-year-old official of the Central Goods and Service Tax (CGST), Hyderabad zone, TS Subramanyam, who was working as a superintendent, and injuries to another CGST employee, M Ramesh, who was also working as a superintendent.
Both of them were rushed to a hospital in Nampally. While Subramanyam was declared brought dead, Ramesh suffered a fracture in his leg, and is undergoing treatment.
In an another tragic incident at Shankar Nagar, under the Chaderghat police station limits, a five-year-old boy named Navneet Raj died when a shed collapsed due to the gusting winds.
The south terrace pavillion canopy at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal was also damaged by the wind, but thankfully, no one was injured.
While disaster response force personnel swung into action at LB Stadium after the incident, the collapse of the heavy floodlight tower should come as a shock because the wind speeds in Hyderabad were not extraordinary. On Monday, wind speed recorded at Begumpet by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) was 78 kmph, which is common during the pre-monsoon season.Meanwhile in Kurumurthy village, Mahbubnagar district, a youngster was killed after being struck by lightning.
More rain to lash parts of the state
Light to moderate rain, or thundershowers, are very likely to occur at isolated places across Telangana on Tuesday, according to an IMD forecast. Although thunderstorms struck Hyderabad towards evening on Monday, the rainfall recorded across the day was not heavy anywhere. No part of the city receoved more than 20 mm. The highest rain recorded in the city was 18.5 mm at Malkajgiri