Rain paralyses life in Hyderabad

Hundreds of inundated houses, colonies submerged and a huge crater right opposite NTR gardens in the heart of the city apart from traffic snarls and pothole-ridden roads are what Hyderabad faced after rains that lashed the capital city from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning. NDRF, police and revenue officials were put on alert and officials are hoping that the city does not receive another bout of rainfall.

Lakes and water bodies on the outskirts of the city overflowed leaving various localities in Nizampet area under water. The water reached into the cellar of hundreds of apartments and people woke up to find themselves in a deluge. Areas like Kukatpally, Nizampet, Balanagar and others bore the brunt of the nature’s fury.

The Nizampet area was the worst effected as the flood water from Turka Cheruvu entered the cellars of almost all apartment complexes. With no way to pump the water out, thousands of families were stuck inside their homes without power supply. Areas under the Ganesh Nagar drain like Ayodhyanagar, Dwarkanagar, Subhash Nagar and Devendra Nagar, Surraram, Chintal, Venkateshwara Nagar, Sudarshan Nagar, Bhagatsinh Nagar and Maruti Nagar were flooded. 

In Quthbullapur Circle, which received the maximum rainfall, the Vennalagadda tank breached and flooded several colonies. Traffic came to a standstill between Quthbullapur and Secunderabad as the main roads were flooded.

A holiday was declared for private and government schools in parts of the city. In all, 220 teams were pressed into service by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to clear water-logging in Afzal Sagar,



Habeeb Nagar in Mallepally and in Red Hills. A huge crater was formed in front of the Telangana secretariat after a part of the main road caved in. The road had to be closed, leading to traffic snarls.  Heavy traffic congestion was witnessed in almost all parts of the city, particularly the Mumbai highway.

The Hussain Sagar Lake, brimming with flood water from the catchment areas, has become a cause for concern.   The GHMC is concerned about the slow outflow of only 2,500 cusecs, while the inflow is 5,000 cusecs. “The debris from the recent Ganesh ‘nimajjanam’ accumulated as the flood flow gates choked the outflow,” said GHMC commissioner Janarthana Reddy, who inspected the lake. The commissioner issued an advisory to residents living in dilapidated houses to vacate and move to safer places.

Official machinery rushed to the localities but there was nothing much they could do till the rains stopped by afternoon and water levels receeded.Traffic too came to a standstill at several places while there was slow movement at a number of other places. Potholes added to the misery of people making it difficult to see and wade through knee-deep water. 

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who was in Delhi, called up GHMC commissioner B Janardhan Reddy and took stock of the situation. Rao asked officials to utilise the services of NDRF, police and in the worst scenario the army to evacuate people to safer places and take up relief operations. The worst-affected places in the city, included Nizampet area where families had to move with their belongings as water stagnated after the rains stopped.