Heavy rain batters Hyderabad, inundate low-lying areas

Hyderabad, July 25 (IANS) Roads and some low-lying areas in Greater Hyderabad remained inundated on Tuesday following Monday night’s heavy rains and thunderstorms which claimed one life.

Water stagnation on roads affected vehicular traffic while rain water entered houses in few colonies in and around the city.

Water entered residential areas in Saidabad and Singareni Officers’ colony, causing severe hardships to residents.

A similar situation prevailed in Kodandaram Nagar and a few colonies in Saroornagar area.

Some colonies in Gajularamaram and Malkampet were also inundated. People were shifted to safe places from low-lying inundated area. Vehicular traffic was affected from Bachupally to Gandi Maisamma as the road was submerged.

Information technology corridors of Madhapur, Gachibowli, Raidurgam and surrounding areas were once again witnessing huge traffic jams due to water stagnation on roads. The area had seen a gridlock after heavy rains last night.

People returning from offices and workplaces were caught in traffic jams for hours at various places in the city following blinding rain for about 30-minutes.

The heavy downpour brought the city to its knees. Roads were flooded in IT cluster, Financial District, Jubilee Hills, Banjara Hills, Bengumpet, Mehdipatnam, Panjagutta, Koti, Abids and other areas.

A man lost his life last night after asbestos sheets fell on him in the Abids area. The incident occurred when he had taken shelter under a wall. The sheets fell on him from the fourth floor of an adjacent building.

The deceased was identified as Fareed, a daily wager.

Lightning struck at two places in the city. However, there were no casualties. In the first incident, a small portion of one of the minarets of historic Qutb Shahi mosque in Langar Houz was damaged.

Another incident of lightning was reported close to a building in Attapur.

Residents of the apartment building complained that television sets and  refrigerators were damaged. Strong winds resulted in trees falling at a few places.

Disaster Response Force (DRF) teams of GHMC swung into action to clear the fallen trees and water stagnation points. After Monday night’s heavy rains, water level in Hussain Sagar lake in the heart of the city has once again reached near Full Tank Level (FTL).

The water level in the lake rose to 513.46 meters on Tuesday morning against FTL 514.75 meters.

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has alerted people living in areas along discharge channels.

With the lake continuing to receive inflows and more rains likely over the next three days, the authorities have advised people to move to safe places.

Meanwhile, Hyderabad Meteorological Centre has issued an orange alert for Tuesday and a red alert for Wednesday. The intensity of rain is likely to be high towards the evening while the day will witness moderate to heavy rainfall.