Hyderabad in deep water…heavy rains brought the city to its knees

Hyderabad: With no signs of abating, heavy rains continue to batter the city for the third consecutive morning on Tuesday, spawning fear and chaos among the city dwellers. There is no respite for them to get flooded in these rains. People in the worst-affected areas spent sleepless nights as rainwater and water overflowing from drains and lakes entered their houses. While heavy rains pound the various districts across the State, the rain drenched the city to the hilt. Following heavy rains with thunderstorms wreaked havoc in parts of the city with roads and low-lying areas were inundated. Waterlogging woes are pouring in from dwellers of different localities. So much so, rainwater gushed into the houses in various localities across the city, forcing the inmates of the houses to rush for safety. Electronic items and other utility items were damaged. Monday night and the wee hours of Tuesday were horrifying for the east, north and western parts of the city. Many parts registered over 100 mm of rainfall in the span of 2-3 hours. The rains approached several parts and soon spread to the other parts too. The eastern and northern part of the city was completely submerged in water. A few areas in the city saw an electricity outage. East and West Maredpally, Alwal, Trimulgherry, R K Puram, Bachupally and other areas were sub-merged. There was massive water stagnation in areas like Qutubullapur, Gajularamaram, Secunderabad, Moosapet, Bowenpally, Kukatpally, Erragadda, Borabanda, Punjagutta, several colonies of Tolichowki and Shaikpet and other areas. Many localities had flooded roads and stranded vehicles, and in areas like Manikonda, Shaikpet, Tolichowki, Borabanda, Bachupally, Chintal, DeenDayal Nagar, Fateh Nagar, Manikonda, Hafeezpet and surroundings experienced a flood-like situation as the streets turned into rivers, bikes and cars were in the floodwater. Chandanagar recorded 102 mm between 8.30 pm on Monday to 5 am Tuesday while Kukatpally and Moosapet received rainfall of 80.5 and 65.5 mm respectively in the duration. Several areas under Ramachandrapuram, Patancheru, Khairtabad, Quthbullapur, Shaikpet and Balanagar received between 40 and 63 mm of rainfall. Keeping in view the heavy rains, GHMC & EVDM teams are on full alert and tending to emergencies at various localities. Police were monitoring traffic on the various routes as there was severe waterlogging on the roads. Traffic chokes Hyderabad roads Due to the rainfall, water pooling on roads and low-lying areas witnessed waterlogging. The waterlogged roads threw motorists into a tizzy, resulting in ‘terrific’ traffic jams at many locations, and they were stranded for hours. Traffic police braving the rains grappled hard to regulate the snarled-up vehicular traffic. After the rainfall, traffic moved very slowly in various locations, including various stretches Tolichowki – Shaikpet, Madhapur – Hitech City, and the Miyapur area. Other areas like Tarnaka, Begumpet, Secunderabad, Khairtabad, Somajiguda also observed the traffic disruption. Considering the heavy rainfall forecast and the resulting traffic congestion, traffic police urged the Hyderabad residents to plan their travel accordingly. Amid heavy rains lashing across the State, the Police have urged citizens to work from home and not venture out unless emergency. Taking to social media, the city police said, “People should not come out of the house except in case of emergency. IT employees should work from home. Emergency workers should leave the office for the home depending on rain conditions,” posted X (formerly Twitter). The worst traffic snarls were witnessed in the Shaikpet area. The commuters using the Shaikpet flyover were seen frustrated. The viral video shows that in the Shaikpet flyover commuters were stranded for several minutes and motorists were frustrated. The flood water was stranding heavily under the Moosapet metro station. Due to this, the vehicles going towards Kukatpally and coming towards Erragadda from there stopped everywhere. In Borabanda, a two-wheeler washed away and got stuck in manhole, the officials removed the bike from the manhole after trying for hours. A TSRTC bus that was stuck in water at Aramghar was successfully rescued by traffic police and GHMC DRF teams. Similarly, another bus that got stranded in the rainwater at Srinagar was extricated by GHMC MET and DRF teams. A large number of residential apartments in various localities saw its basement inundated and vehicles were submerged. They were seen pumping the water out. Nalas were overflowing menacingly, keeping the dwellers in the vicinity on the edge. Roads in several parts of the city and its outskirts have been submerged due to the extensive downpour. The GHMC has issued an alert and urged people not to leave their homes unless absolutely necessary. “Heavy rains in Hyderabad. Please refrain from going out unless it is essential for the next few hours. Our teams, comprising more than 3000 members, are in the