Heavy rain surprises city

Hyderabad: Sudden and heavy rain lashed the city inundating many low-lying areas throwing normal life out of gear on Sunday. According to reports, water flowing from the low-lying areas of the old city brought the traffic movement to a grinding halt and people had to struggle to ensure that their vehicles were not washed away.

Lives of as many as seven persons were saved in various instances by the alert locals who saw the drowning persons. In an incident at LB Nagar, a five-year-old girl while walking in a by-lane has slipped into a manhole. But, alert locals around have rescued the girl.

In another incident at Champapet in Saroor Nagar, locals had to rush to the rescue of a family of six persons, including three children, when they were stuck in a car surrounded by swirling waters. The locals stopped the car from washing away with a tractor and rescued the family.

The temperature on Sunday was dropped to 23 degrees Celsius and the same would be expected to continue on Monday, the officials of the Indian Meteorological Department said. An average of 0.7 mm rainfall was witnessed in Hyderabad in the past 24 hours with the minimum temperature dropped to 23.4 degrees Celsius.

However, in Chaderghat, Baglingampalli, Santoshnagar, Shaikpet and Tolichowki, the surging waters have washed away many vehicles. Heavy downpour lashed Jubilee Hills, Dilsukhnagar, LB Nagar, Kothapet, Malakpet, Saidabad, Mehdipatnam, Attapur, Koti, Sultan Bazaar areas with rain waters choking the drains. Heavy showers have also been reported from Banjara Hills and Punjagutta.

However, no heavy rains have been reported from Warangal and Aswaraopet under Khammam district has witnessed 4 mm rain fall on Sunday, said the IMD officials. Meanwhile, the IMD forecast says that due to the low pressure in Bay of Bengal is expected to bring more rains in the next 48 hours. Due to this, moderate to heavy rains are expected in Adilabad, Karimnagar, Warangal, Nalgonda, Khammam districts.

GHMC Commissioner Somesh Kumar has formed 51 mini teams to reach out to the smaller lanes of old city in case of emergency. All the monsoon emergency teams were put on alert for the next 48 hours. He also appealed to the public to call the GHMC officials on 040-2111111 in case of emergency.