Heavy thunderstorm accompanied by high-speed winds on Tuesday, left a trail of destruction in Hyderabad, the cascading effect of which was felt throughout the night and the next day too.
Areas across the city experienced tedious power breakdowns owing to snapped power conductors and fallen tree branches. Teams from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation’s Disaster Response Force received over 170 complaints of fallen tree branches on Tuesday and Wednesday. The areas to which power supply was interrupted include many colonies in Patancheru, along with Nampally, Begum Bazar, Banjara Hills, Asif Nagar, Charminar, Falaknuma, Lakdikapul, Film Nagar, Charminar, Kompally, Miralam and others.
Power supply was not restored to some of these areas even by 7 p.m. on Wednesday. Several residents from Deeptisri Nagar and Madinaguda resorted to social media, complaining that power had not been restored even by Wednesday evening. “There is no power from yesterday evening in Deepthisri Nagar. What’s the issue? Will it be restored quickly? In a city like Hyderabad if it is taking this much time it’s really pathetic,” read a post by Vinod, an X user.
“We did not have power from around 7 p.m. on Tuesday up to 3.30 a.m. on Wednesday. When we called the discom helpline, they said a large tree had fallen on the powerlines, and till the tree was removed by the Disaster Response Force, were helpless,” shared Mohammed, a resident of Banjara Hills.
The DRF teams from the Enforcement, Vigilance and Disaster Management wing of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) were busy throughout Tuesday night and Wednesday too, clearing fallen tree branches from the roads. On Tuesday night alone, the DRF teams received 77 complaints of fallen tree branches, followed by 94 more complaints on Wednesday. Of the total complaints, the teams successfully addressed 149 complaints by 6 p.m. on Wednesday. They also cleared water stagnation at 34 locations including the Chief Minister’s camp office. “We cleared the main roads of fallen tree branches on Tuesday night to facilitate traffic flow as soon as possible, and focussed on the internal roads the next day,” said the Director, EV&DM, N. Prakash Reddy.
The teams received rich accolades from the residents too. “Impressed with the efficiency of Disaster Response Team, Telangana. Over 200 trees were uprooted in the city alone in the storm last night. A mere call to the Disaster Response Team with photographs and location this morning was responded to by a smartly dressed efficient team who arrived at the site with all the paraphernalia, despite the heavy load of complaints. Good job and thank you,” posted Chandana Chakrabarty, a user on Facebook.
One may reach the DRF on 9000113667/ 040-29555500/ 040-29560528/ 040-29560584/ 040-29560591. Alternatively, they may also be contacted on social media platforms such as X, Facebook, Instagram and others. Calls on GHMC’s emergency helpline 040-21111111 too will be forwarded to DRF.
