Rain fury leaves Hyderabad battered; roads submerge, traffic halts

HYDERABAD: In a span of six hours, Hyderabad received 75 per cent of its average nine-day rainfall on Friday evening as the skies opened up and brought many areas of the city to its knees. Motorists got stuck for hours after low-lying areas and major streets were flooded with 15 cm of rainfall pounding the city, triggering traffic snarls and power cuts.
Meteorologists attributed the sudden rain to an upper air cyclonic circulation and a trough over Telangana. “These systems resulted in formation of cumulonimbus clouds over Hyderabad that led to very heavy rainfall during evening hours,” said Raja Rao, meteorologist, India Meteorological Department, Hyderabad.

The Met office predicted rainfall activity will continue for the next few days as the southwest monsoon fully withdraws by next week.
According to the Telangana State Development Planning Society, Asifanagar received highest rainfall of 151mm rainfall (approximately 15 cm) followed by 127 mm at Banjara Hills, 125.8 mm at Shaikpet, 123 mm at Khairtabad, 115.5mm at Venkateshwara Colony and 114.5 mm at Tolichowki.
Many other areas such as Vijayanagar Colony in Mehdipatnam, Red Hills, Gudimalkapur, Sardarmahal, Srinagar Colony and Gunfoundry received 80-90 mm rainfall.
Due to the sudden downpour, several commuters were stuck in traffic for hours. “I was waiting at the same spot for almost 40 minutes in front of GVK Mall (Road No 1, Banjara Hills) due to water logging resulting in slow moving traffic on the road. There was no cop to clear the traffic jam,” said Swati Raghavan, a resident of Venkatramana Colony, Banjara Hills.
Many passengers who were travelling to the airport via Banjara Hills towards Masab Tank and PVNR Expressway were also stuck in the same traffic jam. Power cuts were reported in areas such as Banjara Hills, Kundan Bagh, Jubilee Hills, Shaikpet among many others. Due to rising water level, many four wheelers broke down at Raj Bhavan road, following which the disaster response teams had to swing into action to rescue people. Those stuck in their cars were helped to reach an elevated level using a rope.
Bouts of heavy rainfall, which started during evening hours, left central parts of the city inundated. Two-wheelers were seen floating on the roads in Attapur, Tolichowki and Mehdipatnam and many fourwheelers parked in cellars were submerged in rainwater in Himayatnagar, Shaikpet, Mehdipatnam and Khairtabad.
“The water in our lane rose till waist level in merely two hours. We couldn’t even figure out where the manhole as we tried to use wooden sticks to move around,” said Mohammed Pasha, a resident of Shaikpet. Following the incessant showers, meteorologists forecast light to moderate thunderstorms will continue for till October 13. “Southwest monsoon is yet to withdraw completely..., ”said Rao.