A 30-minute heavy downpour brought the city to a standstill, leaving motorists stuck in fender-to-fender traffic at most locations on Saturday evening, while many others were forced to take shelter under flyovers.
Just as some weather enthusiasts and bloggers on Twitter, and the Met Centre in Hyderabad forecast, rain started at around 9 p.m. and continued heavily for the next 30 minutes. Widespread light to moderate rain followed for several hours.
The rain not only was a challenge for motorists returning home from work, but also tested their driving skills with zero-visibility and waterlogging within minutes of the downpour. The Doppler Radar map of IMD centre in Hyderabad showed the rain covering the entire GHMC area.
Movement was at snail’s pace on the Panjagutta flyover; the Begumpet flyover was chock-a-block, the Bowenpally-Suchitra-Kompally stretch on NH-44 had bumper-to-bumper traffic, and traffic jams were ubiquitous.
“Started bashing around 9.10. Car wipers were of no use and couldn’t see a thing on the way to Aramghar! Still Pouring!” a road user Sreeraag Gorty wrote on Twitter and posted the video from his car.
The #HyderabadRains was trending in no time as motorists, colony residents and affected people posted rain photographs and videos from across the city showing waterlogged streets, fallen trees and the helpful traffic policemen at intersections such as at Moazamjahi Market.
In areas near DLF and Dog Park in Gachibowli traffic came to a halt as motorists tried to bulldoze their way only resulting in a long snarl, frayed tempers and constant honking. Conspicuous by their absence, to address the gridlock, were traffic police. In contrast, GHMC workers could be seen trying to forewarn and divert traffic as also opening manholes to drain out the water.
According to Mr. Ravi Kumar, a businessman heading to Gachibowli from Begumpet, the stretch showed fallen traffic barricades, even as motorists and cab drivers zipped impatiently making the road risky for other users. The traffic remained stagnant on the DLF road at Gachibowli at 10.30 p.m.
As per the Telangana State Development Planning Society, Jubilee Hills (65 mm) received the highest rainfall as recorded till 10 p.m., followed by Filmnagar, Khajaguda and Raidurgam.
