Rains batter city, cause massive traffic jams

Hyderabad: Hyderabad witnessed the first monsoon rains accompanied by strong winds and thunderstorms on Wednesday. The rains resulted in waterlogging and massive traffic jams, throwing normal life out of gear.

In the afternoon hours, the rain was observed in eastern part of the city areas like Kapra, Uppal, Nacharam, Mallapur, and Dammaiguda and later spread across the city. The rains lead to heavy traffic jams across Hyderabad for several hours across the city. In the west zone, the traffic moved slowly from Nanakramguda to Gachibowli junction on ORR due to the heavy volume of vehicles. Heavy traffic was witnessed at IKEA junction from all directions.

Similarly, various areas in the city witnessed waterlogging including at Uppal, L B Nagar, Malakpet, Nampally, Begumpet, Mehdipatnam, Dilsukhnagar and other areas. Several roads in the Old City were inundated like Al Jubail Colony, Talabkatta, Tadbun, Yakutpura, Dhobi Ghat, Dabeerpura, Chaderghat and Chanchalguda. The motorists had to struggle to wade through the water, which was at some places up to four feet. Vehicles parked in front of shops were washed away due to heavy water flow on the roads.

Huge traffic jams were seen at Mehdipatnam, Humayun Nagar, NMDC, and Masab Tank due to the heavy rainfall.

Similar delays were reported from other areas such as opposite Prajavani Bhavan, Kakatiya Hotel, Monappa, and Punjagutta X Road. Rasoolpura, Begumpet, and HPS out gate.

Traffic movement was affected from Banjara Hills, Virinchi Junction, Khaja Mansion towards Masab Tank and Bahadurpura – Shivarampally road due to construction activity on the stretch. Traffic police were deployed across junctions to regulate traffic, and commuters were advised to explore alternate routes.

According to Telangana State Development Planning Society (TSDPS), the highest rainfalls recorded were at 85.5 mm in Nampally, followed by 81.8 mm in Bandlaguda, 80.3 mm in Charminar and 76.3 mm in Kukatpally.

Other parts of the city that received rains including Ramanthapur, LB Nagar, Kukatpally, Hitech City, Madhapur, Gachibowli, Banjara Hills, Dilsukhnagar, Vanasthalipuram, Miyapur, Yousufguda, Jubilee Hills, Nanakramguda, and others. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) Hyderabad, the city recorded a maximum temperature of 36.1 degree Celsius and a relative humidity of 60 per cent which marked the lowest temperature recorded.

IMD Hyderabad forecasted that all zones of the city will witness thundershowers for the next four days.

The department has issued a yellow alert forecasting thunderstorms, lightning, and squalls.

GHMC’s Disaster Response Force (DRF) teams worked to clear water stagnation in various parts of the city. The DRF team also requested the commuters to dial 040-21111111 or 9000113667 for GHMC-DRF assistance.