Skies poured down on the city for hours on Thursday, turning streets into streams, residential areas into lakes and roads into virtual mayhem.
What continued for the past three days as drizzle turned into heavy rain on Thursday, throwing the whole city off the gear. Initially, the downpour hit Northern and part of the Central city during early hours, recording a maximum of 9 cm rainfall at Miyapur.
Morning commuters experienced traumatic hours caught in traffic gridlocks everywhere, more so in Serilingampally, where heavy water logging closed the RUB for the vehicles. Slow traffic was reported from other areas such as Rasoolpura, Begumpet, Mehdipatnam, Khairatabad, Madhapur, Gachibowli and other stretches.
Post noon, the clouds spread to cover the entire city to pound it for the next three hours without a break. Heavy water logging and inundations were reported from across several areas, especially Krishna Nagar, Nizampet and Lingampally. Gusty winds resulted in several tree falls and collapse of electrical poles, which led to power outages everywhere.
Major thoroughfares inundated
Major thoroughfares were inundated near Legislative Assembly, Punjagutta, Ameerpet, Nampally, Jubilee Hills, Begumpet, Gajularamaram, Malakpet, Abids and other areas. The recently altered road in front of the newly built State Secretariat was an apparent failure in terms of planning, as evidenced by heavy water logging which was not there earlier.
Chaos prevailed on roads everywhere during evening peak too, with tedious traffic movement testing the patience of commuters. Traffic police worked overtime aiding the municipal staff in clearing the water, but with little result.
The Disaster Response wing of GHMC has received total 45 complaints, including two wall collapse incidents in which nobody was injured. The other complaints were tree falls (28), and water stagnation (15). The Directorate of Enforcement, Vigilance and Disaster Management (EV&DM) has circulated its contacts for people to call when in distress (9000113667, 040-29555500, 040-29560528, 040-29560584 or 040-29560591). The wing may be reached through social media too.
As per the information available at 8 p.m., East Anandbagh area of Malkajgiri recorded the highest rainfall at over 11 centimetres, followed by Miyapur and Nacharam where more than 10 centimetres of rainfall was recorded. Majority of the localities in the city clocked over 7 centimetres of rainfall, which is the highest ever in the current monsoons.
Meteorology department predicted generally cloudy sky, and moderate to heavy rain at times turning into intense spells for the city for the coming 24 hours. State government declared July 21 and 22 as public holidays fro all educational institutions and government/private offices in Hyderabad in view of the predictions.
Mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi urged citizens not to venture out unless absolutely necessary. A total 426 monsoon emergency teams are working on the ground to clear water stagnation, apart from 157 static teams deployed at points of frequent water logging, she informed. The status of all the 185 lakes is being monitored, and water is being released in advance where there is a need, she said, assuring that she is reviewing the situation with zonal and deputy commissioners and engineering officials.
Twin reservoirs unaffected
A statement from the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board assured that the twin reservoirs of Osmansagar and Himayatsagar remained unaffected by the downpour. So far, no surplus water has reached the tanks, the statement said, and estimated that the inflows may start from early hours of Friday. Officials concerned are on the alert and reviewing the situation from time to time, it said.
Managing Director of the HMWS&SB M. Dana Kishore reviewed the situation with the officials, and asked them to keep the emergency response teams on the alert in view of heavy rains. Special attention needs to be paid to the quality of drinking water too in view of the unremitting rains, he said. He asked officials to ensure safety grilles on the manholes, and to clear the silt removed from the manholes. Warning signs should be placed near the inundated manholes and sewerage supervisors should be posted at all the deep manholes, he directed. He warned against unauthorised opening of manhole covers which would attract criminal cases. If any open manhole is noticed, it may be notified to the water board on 155313.
