Heavy rain overnight between Monday and Tuesday left the city gasping with water logging, inundation, overflowing drains and throwing the lid off a number of several other issues.
The intensity of rain lasted, at its highest, for about two hours around midnight, during which Cherlapally and Hayatnagar received the maximum rainfall of over 10 cm, the highest so far in the season in such a short span.
Charminar, Saidabad, Amberpet and Himayat Nagar too were hit by intensive rains close to 9 cm, while a large number of other localities received rainfall between four to eight cm.
The showers resumed on Tuesday too in several parts of the city recording a rainfall ranging up to 4 cm between 8.30 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Heavy flows have been released from the twin reservoirs of Osmansagar and Himayatsagar, which put. the residents of low lying areas along the Musi river on high alert.
Catchment area
Due to heavy rains in Vikarabad and Shankarpally, inflows into the Osmansagar and Himayatsagar reservoirs surged from the previous day, putting the engineering officials from the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) on high alert.
Due to increasing inflows, 12 gates of the Osmansagar reservoir have been lifted by six feet height when last news came in, while for the Himayatsagar, six gates have been opened up to three feet height. The outflows from Osmansagar have increased from 1,278 cusecs at 8 a.m. to 7,308 cusecs at 8 p.m., while for Himayatsagar, they have risen from 330 cusecs to 5,780 cusecs during the same time.
An alert has been sounded by the Police in the slums, which have come up in the river bed of Musi, local residents informed.
“They said more water is being released from the twin lakes, and asked us to leave for safer places. Seven to eight families have vacated their homes and moved to higher reaches,” informed Syed Bilal, from Chaderghat. Announcements have been made in mosques where people have been urged to take shelter in case of emergency, he said.
Outflow from Hussain Sagar is recorded at 1,796 cusecs, with the water level at 513.48 metres against an FTL of 513.41 metres.
Heavy inundation
Several areas in the city have been badly affected due to the heavy downpour. Inundation has been severe in Mallepally area of Nampally, where it rained over six cm. Photos shared in social media posts showed two wheelers being washed away in flood water, and corporator Zafar Khan along with civic staff wading in waist deep water to clear the inundation.
People spent sleepless nights as homes were flooded during midnight in areas such as Padma Colony of Chaderghat, Ayyappa Colony in Nagole, Kodandaram Nagar and Saraswathi Nagar in Saroornagar, and certain locations of Malakpet, LB Nagar and Dilsukhnagar.
At innumerable locations, sewage mixed water gushed from the catch pits and manholes due to clogged nalas and sewer lines. Several areas had tedious power cuts since morning, and voltage fluctuations.
Meteorology department has issued alert about light to moderate rains, and at times intense spells for the city in the coming 24 hours. Independent weather analysts warned of heavy rains for Hyderabad starting from Tuesday evening.