New Delhi: Several parts of Hyderabad were flooded after the city received torrential rainfall on Tuesday, with commuters reportedly stranded by traffic snarls caused by water accumulating on arterial roads.
Telangana urban development minister K.T. Rama Rao said that the city received its highest rainfall in over a hundred years, with many parts of Secunderabad received rainfall more than 100 mm. The city’s average rainfall for the month of September hovers around 158 mm. According to the Telangana State Development Planning Society, areas such as Tirumalagiri received 121.8 mm, while Uppal received 120.8 mm as of Wednesday morning.
Municipal authorities said this was the second-highest rainfall recorded in the month of September in 111 years.
According to reports, Marredpally and Musheerabad areas of the city received around 114 mm of rain, while other parts such as Begumpet, Monda Market, Habsiguda and Bowenpally also received more than 100 mm in rainfall.
#Nacharam police station in #Hyderabad on Tuesday night after incessant rain. pic.twitter.com/CTvPKJX9tZ
— Filter Kaapi (@FilterKaapiLive) September 25, 2019
The massive rainfall resulted in the flooding of several arterial roads in the city, with traffic in the Cyberabad area – the IT hub – coming to a standstill. Videos posted on Twitter show bikers and pedestrians making their way through knee-deep water. Reports said that the Cyberabad traffic police asked IT companies to let their employees leave in staggered batches to ease the traffic. Commuters were also seen taking shelter under the Hyderabad metro rail stations.
GHMC AE officer and Kukatpally traffic inspector at Railway under bridge, INDU project monitoring the situation. pic.twitter.com/WWF3IGqaSm
— CYBERABAD TRAFFIC (@CYBTRAFFIC) September 25, 2019
In Nagole, a man fell who fell into a drain was rescued by a quick response team. While no loss of life has been reported because of the outpour, shopkeepers said goods worth several lakhs were damaged.
Is it me because I was driving or #Hyderabad has not received torrential rains like this before?
Seen bikes float, cars halt, roads closed, two wheelers fall because of the gushing water.This was at Kavadiguda while I was driving back. Scary. #HyderabadRains #Rains pic.twitter.com/i7nf3MoxAJ— Arvind Ramachander (@arvindia4u) September 24, 2019
An arterial road in the Secunderabad area caved in because of the rains, forcing authorities and army personnel to swing into action. The Lotakunta-Yapral road will be closed on Wednesday, the Ministry of Defence’s Twitter account said.
*Important Notice*
Road between Lotakunta & Yapral damaged & caved in due to heavy rains. Road being repaired on priority by Army personnel. Road will be closed for 24 hours on 25 Sep 19 for repairs. Assistance from State Traffic Police sought to divert the traffic. pic.twitter.com/hTRLNQLtLa— PRO, Hyderabad, Ministry of Defence (@dprohyd) September 25, 2019
Flooding has become an annual phenomenon in the southern city and activists say rapid urbanisation that has neglected the topography of the area, is a major reason. In the IT hub region, rocks and lakes were flattened or filled to make way for office and residential spaces. The Forum for Good Governance, a civil society group, said that the constructions have disrupted the natural water flow, which now causes flooding. In many other parts of the city, activists have regularly flagged encroachment of lakes.
The city has also been under the grip of vector-borne diseases such as dengue, chikungunya and malaria. However, experts said that the rains may have helped wash away the larvae of mosquitoes that carry the diseases. An expert on infectious diseases told Deccan Chronicle that the continuous spell of rain “has helped to wash away the eggs which were laid during the dry days”. He, however, wanted the government to take preventive methods – fogging, clearing up litter and repairing sewage systems – to ensure that the threat passes.
Other parts of Telangana also received heavy rainfall, according to reports. Mancherial district received the highest rainfall at 132 mm, while Nampalle in Rajanna-Sricilla district got 95.5 mm, followed by 94.8 mm at Chimanpalle in Nizamabad district.
The Indian Meteorological Department in Hyderabad has warned that heavy rains are likely to continue at isolated places in the districts of Warangal, Mulugu and others till September 26. The region is under the influence of a trough “from an upper air cyclonic circulation over south Andhra Pradesh and neighbourhood”, the department said.