HYDERABAD: Heavy rains lashed parts of Telangana on Thursday following the formation of a depression over the Bay of Bengal. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the weather system is expected to intensify further and bring widespread rainfall, thunderstorms and gusty winds across the state over the next three days.
Moderate rains have been lashing Nizamabad district since Thursday morning, significantly impacting daily life. The showers in the district dampened Dasara shopping and Bathuakamma festivities, as many people stayed indoors.
Eturunagaram in Mulugu district recorded the highest rainfall at 74.5 mm, while the state’s daily average stood at 7.5 mm, well above the normal of 4.5 mm. In contrast, Hyderabad saw only scattered drizzles.
The IMD has forecast light to moderate rains at many places across all districts of the state over the next three days. On September 25 and 26, heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places, accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds reaching 40-50 kmph. On September 27, heavy rainfall with thunderstorms and winds of 30-40 kmph is expected at several locations.
An orange alert has been issued for districts including Nirmal, Nizamabad, Jagtial, Rajanna Sircilla, Jayashankar Bhupalpally, Mulugu, Mahbubabad, Warangal, Vikarabad, Sangareddy, Medak, Kamareddy, Mahbubnagar, Nagarkurnool, and Wanaparthy. A yellow alert has been issued for Adilabad, Komaram Bheem Asifabad, Mancherial, Karimnagar, Peddapalli, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Khammam, Nalgonda, Suryapet, Hanamkonda, Jangaon, Siddipet, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri, Rangareddy, Hyderabad, Medchal-Malkajgiri, Narayanpet, and Jogulamba Gadwal districts.
In view of the heavy rain forecast, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has directed all government departments to remain on high alert. District collectors have been asked to conduct regular reviews of flood-hit areas, evacuate residents from low-lying zones, and provide shelter in relief camps. The chief minister also ordered traffic restrictions on inundated roads, checks on the safety of causeways, and uninterrupted power supply with the removal of dangling wires to prevent accidents.
Major reservoirs discharge heavy inflows
Due to heavy upstream inflows, water is being released from Sriramsagar Project (SRSP) and Nizamsagar into the Godavari and Manjeera rivers
Godavari is flowing at full capacity from Basara (Nirmal) to Sripada Yellampelli (Mancherial)
The Yellampelli project is receiving 6,10,388 cusecs of inflow, and has opened 40 gates (second-highest inflow of the season after 8,28,882 cusecs in late August)
Medium/minor irrigation projects (Kadam, Komarambheem, Gaddenavagu) are also releasing excess water downstream