HYDERABAD: Torrential rains played havoc in Telangana on Tuesday even as the Met Department handed another foreboding warning that the worst is not over yet, indicating that the squally weather promises more rain on Wednesday too.
Hyderabad as well as the districts across the State experienced widespread rains on Tuesday, which led to rivers and streams swell and overflow the roads. Districts including Nalgonda, Khammam, Rangareddy, Medchal Malkajgiri, Bhadradri Kothagudem and Yadadri Bhuvanagiri recorded over 20 cm of rainfall in the last 24 hours.
In Hyderabad, rainwater entered several houses in Hassan Nagar, Tallabkatta, Osmannagar and Teegalkunta areas as well as colonies in Meerpet and Balapur, Asifnagar and Tolichowki. As the day wore on, the residents of several areas, including Asifnagar and Tolichowki, had to wade through knee-deep water to reach home.
The roads remained flooded throughout the day and night as the storm water drains, the Achilles heel of Hyderabad, flunked the rain test earlier than expected. It was the policemen who supervised and sometimes they themselves plunged into action in removing the covers of manholes to drain out water at several places, at the same time keeping a watch on the manholes so that no unwary pedestrian slips into them.
As the day progressed, the GHMC received about 1,000 complaints of drainage water overflowing onto the roads, though majority of complaints, about 387, received till 7 pm were about waterlogging. The Disaster Response Force (DRF) teams worked without respite and rescued people in areas where the water logging was more, using boats in places like Nadeem Colony of Tolichowki.
Several areas in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad experienced power outages as the precarious network could not stand up to the heavy rain. Software employees and many other citizens working from home faced inconvenience as it was a working day. People were hit by lost internet connections.
Khammam sees major rains; water level in Godavari going up
Erstwhile Khammam received 4.8 cm of rainfall in the last 24 hours, for the first time in its history. The rains also affected coal production in open cast mines of SCCL. In Kothagudem district, Mulkalapalli and Aswaraopet recorded 11 cm and 10.9 cm rainfall. The officials have lifted two gates of Taliperu project to discharge 3830 cusecs of water. Meanwhile, the water level in Godavari at Bhadrachalam is increasing with the downpour in the catchment areas
OU and JNTU-H postpone exams
Osmania University (OU) and Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Hyderabad (JNTU-H) have decided to postpone the ongoing undergraduate and postgraduate end-semester exams, which were scheduled to be held on October 14 and 15, due to torrential rainfall. Nearly 600 affiliated colleges and institutes to the varsities have also been asked to postpone the exams. The varsities released a circular on Tuesday announcing the postponement. They said that examinations scheduled from October 16 will be conducted as per the timetable
RTC bus overturns, 60 passengers escape unhurt
Throughout the day, traffic was disrupted on the Kodad-Jadcherla road in Nalgonda district due to a damaged road at Nidamanoor. About 60 passengers travelling in an RTC bus bound for Hyderabad escaped unhurt at Bhoodan Pochampalli when it overturned while negotiating a stream which was in spate. Moderate rains have been battering erstwhile Karimnagar district since Monday night.
At several places, standing crop flattened. As many as 12 gates of the Lower Manair Dam have been lifted to release 24,000 cusecs of water into the downstream area and 276 cusecs water from KC canal
Hyderabad - Vijayawada NH flooded
In the wake of heavy rains in the State, floodwater entered the Hyderabad - Vijayawada National Highway at Yellagiri village of Choutuppal mandal and other roads of erstwhile Nalgonda district on Tuesday. Due to the water on the roads, traffic came to a standstill in the area.
After a while, police were called to clear traffic and vehicles from both sides slowly. Roads and Buildings officials and National Highway authority officials supervised the situation on the highway. The Narkatpally-Addanki Highway was also severely disrupted. Heavy floodwater was also seen on the Hyderabad - Vijayawada National Highway near the railway bridge at Chityal. Some of vehicles were submerged in water.
All leaves cancelled, police personnel on high alert
The social media groups created by the Telangana police force during the initial days of Covid-19 pandemic are to be used now for the purpose of monitoring the heavy rain situation in the State. Instructions have been issued to all police units across the state to coordinate closely with other departments and be on high alert for the next few days.
Meanwhile, all types of leaves of the police personnel stand cancelled and those on leave have been asked to report to their station immediately. They were also directed to treat every Dial 100 call with priority
WORK FROM HOME goes for a toss due to power cuts
The incessant rains left many working from home haunted by long power cuts. The TSSPDCL office received complaints from many parts of Hyderabad all day long on Tuesday. “It almost been 12 hours and there has been no power in our entire area. We request officials to take measures to restore electricity,” said Ramesh Verma, a resident of Kumar Basti in Secunderabad.
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Sanjeev from Nallakunta area claimed that it’s been more than seven hours since the power went out in his area and despite his efforts to reach out to the TSSPDL helpline number, there had been no response. Many others from Road No 12, Kalyan Nagar, AG Colony, MLA Quarters, Madhura Nagar clocked in similar complaints.