HYDERABAD: Torrential rains which began pounding Hyderabad in the early hours of Tuesday continued throughout the day, inundating the low-lying areas.The rains left the city choking with swirling waters quickly filling up the drains and flooded roads bringing vehicular traffic to a grinding halt.
The streets resembled pools in several parts of the city and the cellars filled up with surging waters in many apartment buildings, flooding the parked vehicles and posing a threat of electrocution, though no such incidents were reported in the city.The rainfall which was about eight to 10 cm in the early hours affected Cherlapally, Hayatnagar, Charminar, Saidabad, Amberpet and Himayatnagar.
Water was overflowing at Chaderghat and Moosarambagh causeways across the Musi river. Vehicular traffic also came to a halt at Chaderghat and Malakpet bridges. At some places, bikes were seen floating on rain water.As Musi river is in spate filling Osmansagar and Himayatsagar, floodwater was being released downstream from the twin reservoirs.
An alert has been sounded by police as well as the GHMC in the slums which have come up on the Musi river bed. Authorities asked people to leave for safer places.The State government too sounded a high alert on Tuesday and directed all officials to ensure there was no loss of life. Residential areas on the city outskirts, especially those adjacent to water bodies, continue to suffer because of severe waterlogging caused by the heavy spells of rainfall. People in low-lying areas spent a harrowing night as there was no let-up from rain for hours.
Residents in Mayur Marg in Begumpet, Saroornagar, Kodandaram Nagar and some other colonies faced severe hardships due to overflowing drains and lakes. At a large number of locations, sewage-mixed water gushed from the catch pits and manholes due to clogged nalas and sewer lines. According to the Telangana State Development Planning Society, Rajendranagar recorded the highest rainfall of 34.5 mm followed by Shivrampally (14 mm) and Kanchanbagh (9 mm).
Other areas like Gajularamaram, Kukatpally, Jeedimetla, Hayathnagar, Amberpet, Saidabad, Bahadurpura, Charminar, Himayathnagar, Nampally, Mallepally, Saroornagar, Serilingampally, Asifnagar, Kodandaram Nagar and Uppal recorded heavy rainfall in a matter of a few hours. Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar said Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who is currently in New Delhi, is closely monitoring the situation in the State.The Chief Secretary held a teleconference with all District Collectors and senior officials and asked them to be in a high state of alert and take appropriate measures as and when the situation warrants.
Heavy rainfall likely till Thursday: IMD
The weatherman predicted heavy to heavy rainfall across the Sate till Thursday. IMD issued orange alert for Komarambheem-Asifabad, Mancherial, Nirmal, Nizamabad, Jayashankar-Bhupalapally, Mulugu, Bhadradri-Kothagudem, Rangareddy, Vikarabad, Sangareddy, Medak, Suryapet, Mahabubabad, Warangal, Jangaon and Khammam districts. It also issued yellow alert for Jagtial, Rajanna-Sircilla, Karimnagar, Nalgonda, Siddipet, Yadadri-Bhuvangiri, Hyderabad, Medchal-Malkajigiri, Kamareddy, Mahbubnagar, Nagarkurnool, Wanaparthy, Narayanpet and Jogulamba-Gadwal districts.