HYDERABAD: The sudden and unexpected rains that lashed the State on Wednesday caused untold misery in Hyderabad, left a trail of destruction in several parts of the State and claimed the life of a 40-year-old woman who has washed away while crossing a canal at Shapur Thanda in Marpalli Mandal in Vikarabad district. The rains also caused a wall collapse which snuffed out the lives of two persons in Medipally in Rachakonda Police Commissionerate limits. In Shapur Thanda incident, police identified the deceased as Anitha Bi while locals rescued three children of the family using ropes. The children were later shifted to a nearby hospital for proper treatment.
The family members Dasarath Naik and his wife Anitha Bi, along with their three children, went to their farmland where they worked till evening. The incident occurred when the family members were returning home as it started raining heavily.
In Mahabubnagar, efforts are on to rescue a couple who got trapped in their farmland after the nearby Dindi Vagu started overflowing. They are still there when reports last came in. After a helicopter was sought to rescue them, the NDRF teams left from Hyderabad but it became dark. In another incident at Kodair mandal in Nagarkurnool district, a tractor got washed away while it was crossing an inundated road.
Incessant rains also battered erstwhile Mahbubnagar district. But on a positive note, most of the dams and reservoirs started overflowing. With Saralasagar - which is located in Madanapuram mandal - receiving heavy inflows from Peddaburra Vagu, project authorities have opened its automatic siphons for the third time this year.
Meanwhile, a temporary road bridge that was built across the Pedda Vagu got damaged in, bringing normal life and traffic to a standstill. Owing to this, the authorities have snapped vehicular movement between Ajilapur and Baswapur villages and Devarkadra town.
At the same timem the Manne Vagu at Seetarampet is also brimming with water owing to heavy inflows. A bridge that connected Seetrampet and Nellikondi villages breached on Wednesday posing problems to the locals. A road that connected Kollapoor and Somashila areas also got washed away in the heavy rains.
In Hyderabad, heavy rains wrecked havoc, causing severe impediment to the movement of traffic across various parts of the city. Pedestrians and motorists had to wade through knee-deep water in many places. On many stretches of the road the traffic was further slowed down due to vehicles that broke down in middle of the road, causing prolonged traffic jams.
Videos circulated on social media of roads completely submerged in rainwater, traffic coming to a standstill and of even motorcycles floating away in the gushing rainwater from different areas, including Mehdipatnam, Toli Chowki, Bahadurpura and Errum Manzil. Hyderabad and Cyberabad traffic police issued alerts on slow movement of traffic due to waterlogging in various areas and also suggested alternate routes wherever possible.
Anil Kumar, Joint CP, Hyderabad Traffic police, said, “The fact that waterlogging happened during peak office hours led to massive traffic snarls in areas such as Secunderabad, Jubilee Hills, Banjara Hills, Mehdipatnam, and Begumpet.” The IMD forecast of heavy rains and thunderstorms holds true till Sunday.
