Rain brings relief & pain to Telangana

Hyderabad: With the onset of southwest monsoon on the Kerala coast, heavy rains lashed several parts of Telangana since early hours of Thursday, Met officials said.

Many districts received rains with lightning and gusty winds, inundating low-lying areas and damaging paddy kept at the procurement centres at several places.

As the Yadadri Bhongir district received heavy rains on Thursday morning, rainwater entered the premises of Lord Lakshmi Narasimha Swami temple, the famous hill shrine in Telangana. The priests continued to perform the rituals like Suprabhata seva sitting in the rainwater. The authorities immediately rushed to the spot and drained the water from the premises. All measures were being taken to prevent water stagnation in the temple area which is getting ready for grand reopening with upgraded facilities soon.

Rains submerged roads and also disrupted electricity supply at some places. Farmers, who had stored paddy at procurement centres set up by the authorities, were worried over the losses.

According to Telangana State Development Planning Society (TSDPS), Bejgao in Siddipet received 122.8 mm of rain since 08.30 am on Wednesday to 6 am on Thursday. Pothareddipet in Siddipet recorded 112 mm rainfall followed by 105 in Thipparam in the same district, 92.8 mm in Garidepalle in Suryapet and 92 mm in Mahbubnagar. Parts of Medak, Nalgonda, Nagarkurnool, Karimnagar, Warangal Rural, Narayanpet and Sangareddy received 68.5 to 86 mm rainfall.

In Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), Kakatiya Hills Madhapur recorded the highest rainfall of 50.3 mm, followed by 46.5 mm in Khajaguda Sports Complex Gachibowli, 42 mm at PJR Stadium, Chandanagar. Meanwhile, Hyderabad Meteorological Centre has forecast rains in several parts of Telangana till June 6. It forecast thunderstorm accompanied with lightning and gusty winds (30-40 km) at isolated places in all districts on Friday.

Reports said that the harvested crops in the fields were damaged in Khammam, Nalgonda and Warangal districts where paddy, cotton and chilli crops are grown. The Disaster Management authorities alerted district officials about the possibility of lightning incidents with thunderstorms in rain-hit districts.

Ammangal in Mahbubabad district received the highest rainfall of 11.9 cm, followed by Upparagudem (8.7 cm) in the same district. The IMD predicted many districts in parts of South Telangana and Warangal are likely to receive very heavy to heavy rains on Friday and Saturday.