Intensive spell of rain creates mayhem in Hyderabad

Waterlogged roads led to severe traffic jams in many places

Sudden heavy downpour caught commuters unaware in the evening and waterlogging hampered traffic for long period in Hyderabad on Friday

An intensive spell of rain lasting for over an hour on Friday has rendered Hyderabad a virtual Venice, throwing life out of gear for several hours, and giving commuters the taste of a living hell.

Roads became streams, and rain water entered homes in several low lying areas and slums. Several localities in the city recorded what could be more than a day’s rainfall otherwise, within an hour between 6.30 p.m. and 7.30 p.m.

As per the data received from the automatic weather stations across the city, Asif Nagar received the highest rainfall at 15 centimetres, followed by Shaikpet at 13 centimetres.

Khairatabad, Red Hills, Vijaynagar Colony, and Banjara Hills were next in line with over 10 centimetres of rain, while Shaikpet, Srinagar colony, Tolichowki, Mehdipatnam, Gudimalkapur, Abids, Secunderabad, Patigadda, and Ziaguda all recorded very heavy rain.

In fact, for several localities such as Asifnagar, Khairatabad, Banjara Hills, Shaikpet, Mehdipatnam and Tolichowki, Friday’s was the highest rainfall recorded during the whole season.

Other areas receiving heavy rain included Sardarmahal, Begum Bazaar, Padmarao Nagar, Golkonda, Malakpet, L.B.Nagar, Kawadiguda, Nampally, Musheerabad, Asmangadh, Monda Market, Attapur, Amberpet and others.

Streets were virtual streams in low lying areas, and rain water entered homes in slums such as Anjaiah Basthi in Adikmet, Bapuji Nagar in Musheerabad and Shankar Nagar in Amberpet, and Osman Gunj near Jambagh.

Heavy water stagnation on main roads was reported from areas such as Karwan, Kala Pathhar, Musarambagh, Malakpet, Dilsukhnagar, Banjara Hills, Mehdipatnam, Attapur, Mallepally, Basheerbagh, Koti, Khairatabad, Somajiguda, Punjagutta and Hayatnagar which hampered the traffic flow severely for a long time.

People travelling from outside got stuck in the city, unable to reach the railway stations or bus terminals due to the heavy traffic jams on all roads.

Drainage network failed at several locations, leading to sewage water overflow on roads. At locations such as Chintal Basthi, overflowing storm water drains posed threat to commuters with waist deep water, forcing them to return.

Up to 8 p.m., GHMC has received a total of 271 rain-related complaints, 168 of them about drainage overflow, and 68, about water logging. Eight were complaints about tree fall or fallen branches obstructing traffic.

Department of Meteorology has predicted thunderstorm accompanied with lightning very likely at isolated places over Telangana, with occasional heavy to very heavy rains for the next three days.

Officials have attributed the rain to the low pressure area in North Andaman sea and Middle Eastern Bay of Bengal, coupled with an upper air trough. The phenomenon could transform into a cyclonic depression in mid Bay of Bengal and travel towards North and North-Western direction to hit the Northern coast of Andhra Pradesh.