2020 rerun: Hyderabad wakes up to deluge, many streets sink

HYDERABAD: The city woke up to a deluge on Thursday morning following 100-200 mm of rainfall in many areas, bringing life to a crippling halt. The incessant rains reminded Hyderabadis of the floods of October last year in which at least 18 people had died.
Although no deaths have been reported so far, many areas in LB Nagar division such as Uppal, Saroornagar, Hayathnagar, Hasthinapuram, Ramanthapur, Meerpet among others saw streets turning into rivers and storm water gushing into homes. As holding capacity of the water bodies and its channels has reduced, neither the lakes nor the storm water drains were able to hold the water discharged into them.
The flooding was triggered by Hyderabad witnessing its third rainiest day in July with 69 mm rain in the last 24 hours.
‘Intensity of rains to subside over weekend’
According to the Telangana State Development Planning Society figures up to 8.30 am on Thursday, 25 areas in the city recorded 100 to 200 mm of rainfall with Bandlaguda witnessing the highest rainfall of 212.5 mm.
While the downpour was caused by an upper air cyclonic circulation over Bay of Bengal, meteorologists predict that the intensity of rains is likely to subside during the weekend.
Among the worst affected were residents living in the surrounding areas of Saroornagar lake. Just like last year, rainwater entered Kodandaram Nagar, P&T Colony and Vivekananda Nagar and neighbouring colonies.
“Our lanes are flooded as the lake breached its full tank limit. In the last one year, nothing has changed on the ground. July is just the beginning of the monsoon. If this is the situation now imagine what will happen when peak monsoon sets in,” said Sai Charan Mamidishetty, a resident of Kodandaram Nagar.
In Uppal, the situation was much the same. Residents were seen struggling in knee-deep water after the area was pounded with more than 170 mm of rainfall. Six disaster response teams were deployed on Wednesday night to clear the inundation. The Rachakonda police rescued 30 people, including women and children, from water-logged Mallikarjuna Nagar and shifted them to Nagole community hall.
For residents of Osman Nagar and Al Jubail Colony in Old City, who are yet to overcome the 2020 flood impact, the Wednesday’s rainfall only added to their misery. “People are wading through knee-deep water with little help from anyone. Snakes are creeping out of the inundated houses, making it dangerous for people to stay in their houses,” said Habib Abdul Khader, resident of Chandrayangutta who came out to help those stuck in Babanagari, Al-Jubail, Ghazi Millat and surrounding areas.