HYDERABAD: Hyderabad woke up to cloudy skies and eventually experienced heavy rainfall in the evening at many places on Saturday.
The downpour which started in the evening continued till midnight, causing problems to residents in many areas. As heavy rain occurred in the evening during rush hour when people started leaving from offices and workplaces, traffic jams occurred in all the busy areas. Mehdipatnam, Masab Tank, Lakdikapul, Nampally, Begumpet, Somajiguda, Panjagutta, Kukatpally, Malakpet and various other areas witnessed heavy traffic jams. Both two-wheelers and four-wheelers were stuck in traffic for hours especially in areas where Metro Rail works are going on.
Not just traffic jams, but water logging was also reported in many parts of the city.
Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) emergency response teams worked along with the police to reduce water-logging and traffic congestion.
However, narrow roads and overflowing sewage drains added to the worries, highlighting lack of infrastructure in the 'world class city'. Even trees were uprooted at some places.
"Traffic jams, water logging and overflowing sewage has become a common feature in Hyderabad, even if it rains slightly. Instead of jumping into emergency measures and short term solutions, GHMC should come up with long term measures for avoiding problems during rains," urged Padmanabha Reddy, secretary of Forum For Good Governance, highlighting the problems being faced by residents.
Even as Hyderabadis suffered from rains on Saturday, meteorological department predicted more rains for Sunday and coming days.
"In two days a low pressure area will be formed above the Bay of Bengal. Until then there won't be heavy rains till Monday. But after the low pressure area is formed, there will be heavy rains from Tuesday and Wednesday," said YK Reddy, head scientist, Meteorological centre, Hyderabad. He added that he has informed the state government about the rain forecast to take necessary action.