The showers that lashed the city on Friday evening disrupted traffic on several main thoroughfares and arterial roads, leading to chaos till late in the night.
Those returning home after work were caught in traffic jams as the roads were water-logged. The main roads at Khairatabad, Somajiguda, Punjagutta, Begumpet, S.D. Road, Marredpally, Tarnaka, Basheerbagh, Mozamjahi Market and Nampally were the worst hit with vehicles stuck in a gridlock.
A few trees got uprooted in areas such as Sanathnagar and Ram Nagar. Rain water gushed into the houses at Ramantapur and its surrounding areas. Vehicular traffic came to a standstill from JNTU junction to Kukatpally BJP office and power supply in areas like Qutbullapur, Brahmanwadi, Pattigadda, Sikh Village and Kukatpally was also disrupted.
24 mm rainfall
The MeT department officials recorded 24mm rainfall by 8.30 p.m. They said there would be scattered rainfall all over the State, while the city would continue to have thunderstorms along with rain on Saturday. Many parts of the city such as Nacharam, Trimulgherry, Karkhana, Lalapet, Raheempura were also water logged. A few MMTS trains were also disrupted.
Tough time
With situation getting out of control later in the evening, the traffic police had a tough time regulating vehicles in the affected areas.
In a few areas, traffic constables were seen opening manhole covers to enable free flow of rainwater into the drains.
Special focus
“We saw to it that vehicles were constantly moving and not stuck. Special focus was laid on areas such as Chaderghat, Model House at Punjagutta and Mozamjahi Market where traffic slowed down due to rain. Special teams were deployed to monitor the traffic flow,” said Additional Commissioner (Traffic) C.V.Anand.