Torrential rains flood Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Heavy rains wreaked havoc in Hyderabad and claimed the life of a 43-year-old man on Tuesday morning. The torrential cloud burst in the city caused flooding of major roads and paralysing traffic across the city. Low-lying areas were completely flooded, storm water drains overflowed, causing severe disruptions and throwing normal life out of gear.

Heavy downpour, which began around 4 am, continued for 2 to3 hours in many parts of the city and its outskirts. The city witnessed massive traffic jams on all major roads in Hyderabad, Secunderabad, and Cyberabad. The downpour led to severe water logging in low-lying areas, prompting many residents to wade through knee-deep water and power disruption.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) in Hyderabad has issued an alert for the city, with a forecast of light to moderate rain or thundershowers with occasional intense spells for next three days.

The rains pounded several areas early on Tuesday. The intense downpour resulted in significant rainfall, with areas like Saroornagar recording 132.3 mm, Khairatabad 126.8 mm, Uppal 125 mm, Rajendranagar 122.8 mm, and LB Nagar 122 mm by 7 am. Other areas like Marredpally, Bahadurpura, Golconda, Nampally, and Charminar, reported 100 mm rainfall in the morning and it continued with light to moderate rain till night. Following the rains, Vijay, a 43-year-old man of Ramnagar lost his life due to the flooding.

He was washed away while attempting to cross the road near Parsigutta in Musheerabad. He had left his house early in the morning for work. In another incident, lightning struck an apartment in Panjagutta area, damaging a car and snapping power lines.

The main road under the Malakpet Railway Bridge was heavily flooded, Chandrayangutta– Bandlaguda stretch, Dabeerpura, Yakutpura, Tolichowli, Yousufguda, Saroornagar, LB Nagar, and other areas were flooded bringing the area to a standstill and complicated the traffic movement for hours.

At many places trees were uprooted and cars washed away. A video of a man on a bike in Ramnagar narrowly escaped being swept away by floodwaters gushing from a lane onto the main road as he was rescued by the bystanders went viral on social media.

All government and private schools within the Greater Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts declared holiday and postponed the exam that was to be held on Tuesday to another day. The GHMC has announced an alert for the city and also warned people of the low-lying areas to be vigilant.

Following the heavy rainfall in the entire city, the GHMC has requested the citizens to dial 040-21111111 or 9000113667 for GHMC-DRF assistance.