Shahar phir duba: Another bolt from blue as Telangana limps back to normalcy

Hyderabad: It was once again 'Hy Darr Bad' on Saturday which turned day one of Dasara festival into a damp affair. The rain god refused to take a break and the State was once again hit by thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and according to the weather office it was due to cumulonimbus clouds and low pressure in the Bay of Bengal which could bring rains till Monday. The low pressure is likely to get converted into cyclone by Monday. People are yet to recover from the recent shock they had received from the unprecedented rains and with another round of very heavy rain lashed the state in general and Hyderabad city in particular on Saturday evening resulting in water entering several houses in the low-lying areas. In many areas about 10 cm of rain was recorded.

Those who were out on weekend started rushing back to their houses as they do not want to get caught on roads. This led to heavy traffic jam in LB Nagar, Tarnaka, Vanasthalipuram, Warangal- Hyderabad highway, Hyderabad- Vijayawada highway. Traffic also came to standstill at Amberpet, Uppal, Medpally, Hayatnagar, Sagar ring road, Gachibowli, Mehdipatnam and Tolichowki.

The police and GHMC officials were out on the roads trying to clear water logging and stranded traffic. It appeared as if life had once again come to a standstill. Most of the roads witnessed water-logging.

The weather office feels that this time the rain may not be that heavy. This comes as some relief to citizens but people are keeping fingers crossed as the low-lying areas and the Old City areas which were just limping back to normalcy stand the threat of fresh round of flood.

In areas like Chaitanyapuri, LB Nagar, Old City, Banjara Hills, Jubilee Hills, Kukatpally Saroornagar, Ramanthpur and Hi-Tech city experienced some incidents of small mishaps. Fortunately there were no casualties. As some people tried to cross the road in Chaitanyapuri area, they fell in the gushing waters and were rescued by the local people. Many areas in the city went without power for more than three hours.

Meanwhile, Irrigation officials lifted two gates of the Musi river.

Rains will also put a break to the efforts of the Municipal Administration department to bring back normalcy in the flood-affected areas. Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao, who went round the affected areas on Saturday, asked the officials to clear encroachments from the Appa Lake in the city which caused flood in Gaganpahad area.

The authorities had even taken up handing over of relief kits to the affected families. The CM relief kit contains ration for one month and three blankets.