HYDERABAD: Much to the horror of Hyderabadis, Wednesday evening also turned into a watery mess as heavy rains up to 5 cm until 9 pm drenched the city. This time, the areas paralysed with inundation were Khairatabad, Mehdipatnam and Himayatnagar as 5.3 cm to 5.1 cm rain fell in a span of four hours.
Though the GHMC’s Monsoon Emergency Teams and DRF were pressed to address the gushing waters, the complaints were too many to handle.
In Panjagutta, the flyover from the CM’s camp office to Banjara Hills was filled with water in a repeat of 2017’s October rain. The Panjagutta police rushed to clear the debris blocking drains atop the flyover. Videos emerged on Twitter and WhatsApp of two-wheelers drifting away in narrow flooded bylanes and men trying to pull the vehicles out of the stream.
Meanwhile, in the West zone where 4.9 cm to 4.1 cm of rain fell in Khajaguda and Madhapur, the entire traffic network came to a standstill due to waterlogging. A commuter from Kokapet tweeted how the deadly combination of traffic and rain brought traffic to a standstill outside the newly opened Amazon building. The main road from Hitec junction to Ikea circle was completely blocked.
The Metro also saw a slow-down as city-dwellers rushed to use it to avoid traffic snarls. However, situations at Metro stations were not any better, as trains were delayed due to passenger rush and cautionary driving. Videos and tweets on Twitter complained about long lines at the token counter and the suffocating environment in the trains. Many passengers quit waiting for the Metro and took autos, as even cab aggregators could not provide relief.
NVS Reddy, MD, Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited, said, “L&TMRHL CEO checked up with the control room regarding the situation. All the trains are running normally. Due to heavy crowd, boarding and deboarding of passengers has delayed the trains.” The citizens reacted in absolute horror to the completely dismantling civic infrastructure. “This is the same situation every time when it rains in #Hyderabad. This is a serious concern and authorities need to address this and provide the proper infrastructure to the taxpaying citizens,” tweeted Abdul Mohammed.
Heavy rains expose poor quality roads
Bad roads are back, as subsiding rainwater exposed the poor quality of roads. Commuters were forced to deal with washed-away roads from heavy rains. The areas in the West zone were worse-hit, especially Khajaguda to Biodiversity stretch, where the roads are practically nonexistent. Arterial roads in Kothaguda was also battered. Traffic jams ensued on Wednesday morning as roads from Nallagandla flyover to Gulmohar junction had multiple potholes.
5,000 chickens perish in the monsoon rains
As many as 5,000 chickens were found dead in a poultry farm as the farm was flooded with rainwater on Tuesday night at Babaguda village, Shamirpet Mandal. The farm was flooded with knee-deep water till the parapet wall, and the chickens had nowhere to go, as they were confined in a large hall enclosed in a mesh. In the heavy rains, the one-and-a-half feet parapet wall flooded with water. The water receded by morning, but it was too late to save the chickens.
Roads of Ramanna Kunta extra congested
According to residents of Ramanna Kunta, Bowenpally, after incessant rains on Tuesday, several colonies in the area were hit by water stagnation and flooding, which has become an annual affair. The rains in the last two days witnessed traffic jam in several parts of Bowenpally including Diamond point, Tadbund, Bowenpally X road and Bowenpally vegetable market. The roads were jammed from almost three hours from 6 pm to 9 pm in these areas causing inconvenience to the people.