Rains bring Hyderabad to its knees

Hyderabad: Heavy rains that lashed the State capital on Friday night caused a nightmare for the people living in low-lying areas. Many localities, roads and thoroughfares were inundated and turned into mini lakes due to rain water. Vehicular traffic was affected at several places. The sudden downpour which started last evening caused havoc in most parts of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation limits. Balanagar and Madhapur areas recorded the highest rainfall of 12 cm in four hours while in many other areas the rainfall recorded was between 5 cm to 11 cm.

Since it was a holiday on Friday due to Ganesh Chaturthi, the citizens stayed put in their houses to celebrate the festival. However, the heavy rains in the evening played spoilsport for devotees planning to visit various Ganesh pandals that have come up in many localities. Though the organisers of the Ganesh festival had taken precautionary measures, temporary structures at the pandals collapsed in some places.

Uprooting of huge trees was reported from 18 places in the GHMC limits. As usual, the heavy downpour led to power breakdowns for some hours at 30 places. In many colonies, overflowing drain water entered apartments inundating the cellars. Sridhar Colony and NMDC Colony in Malkajgiri, Bandipur layout were inundated with knee deep water.

Residents of Dharani Nagar in Allywn Colony of Kukatpally spent agonising night with the nearby nala carrying chemical effluents caused the accumulated foam flying into the houses due to heavy breeze leading to stink and breathing problems in the area.

Though the GHMC authorities have swung into action by setting up 120 special teams to clear the roads and localities, the magnitude of the havoc was so immense that many roads and localities continued to remain water logged even on Saturday. Dumping of garbage, especially plastic bags and other material, was found to be one of the main reasons for the blockade of rain water. The municipal staff had a Herculean task in clearing the plastic bags and materials to ensure free flow of the rain water.

However, despite the efforts, many important roads remained water logged in many areas. The Punjagutta Flyover was water logged creating an unprecedented traffic jam. Such traffic snarls were reported in many areas and the motorists and two-wheeler riders were subjected to innumerable hardships. Many damaged roads which were repaired after strict instructions from Municipal Administration Minister KTR, were again washed away due to rains.