E-Paper
4 killed in 2 separate incidents as heavy rainfall lashes Telangana
According to a bulletin from Telangana State Development Planning Society (TSDPS), about 17 districts recorded very heavy rainfall ranging from 115 mm to 157 mm till 8 am on Tuesday morning
Hyderabad
Heavy rainfall wreaked havoc in several districts of Telangana, disrupting normal life in many areas on Tuesday morning.
While three people died of electrocution in Jayashankar Bhupalpalli district, a four-year-old boy got washed away in an open drain in Hyderabad, people familiar with the matter said.
According to a bulletin from Telangana State Development Planning Society (TSDPS), about 17 districts recorded very heavy rainfall ranging from 115 mm to 157 mm till 8 am on Tuesday morning.
The highest rainfall of 157.5 mm was recorded at Gandhari town in Kamareddy district, followed by 147.5 mm at Miyapur of Serilingampally on the outskirts of Hyderabad and 145.3 mm at Dulapalli forest academy at Medchal.
The state government declared holidays for educational institutions in Hyderabad and adjacent Rangareddy, Vikarabad and Medchal Malkajgiri districts.
Very heavy rainfall occurred at a few places in Medchal Malkajgiri and at isolated places in Kamareddy and Sangareddy district, while heavy rainfall occurred at most places in Medak and Rajanna Sircilla, at many places in Hyderabad, Kamareddy, Sangareddy, at a few places in Medchal Malkajgiri, Rangareddy , Vikarabad and at isolated places in Jagtial, Karimnagar, Mahabubnagar, Mancherial, Nirmal, Nizamabad, Siddipet districts of Telangana.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an yellow alert to isolated places in Mancherial, Nirmal, Nizamabad, Jagtial, Rajanna Sircilla, Jayashankar Bhupalpally, Mulugu, Mahabubabad, Warangal, Hanamkonda, Jangaon districts for Wednesday morning.
The met department issued the alert early on Tuesday morning, warning residents to brace for heavy rainfall throughout the day.
Two women – Ch Saritha (30) and N Mamata (32) were killed, when a lightning struck them while they were taking shelter under a tree to protect themselves from heavy rains at Shantinagar village of Jayashankar Bhupalpalli district. Another man Rajeshwar Rao (46) also died due to lighting strikes while he was working in his fields Damerakunta village of Kataram block in the same district.
Rains Ravage parts of Hyderabad
The people of the state capital of Hyderabad on Tuesday woke up to a deluge-like situation with several colonies being inundated due to water logging caused by overnight heavy rains that continued up to 9 am.
The drizzle that began in the wee hours turned into an intense downpour with some areas reporting over 100 mm of rainfall within three to four hours resulting in inundation of several areas.
At Pragati Nagar near Kukatpalli, a four-year-old boy Mithun accidentally fell into an open drain at around noon on Tuesday and was washed away. His body was traced by the Disaster Response Force (DRF) teams of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in Bachupalli nala later in the evening.
GHMC commissioner Ronald Rose appealed to the people not to come out of their houses except in emergency situations, Cyberabad police commissioner Stephen Ravindra made a request through social media to all the software companies to allow their employees to work from home.
At Mysammaguda area of Gundla Pochampalli township on the outskirts of Hyderabad, several apartments, including student hostels, were totally surrounded by water, trapping hundreds of residents. The authorities had to move heavy earth machines to rescue the hostel students.
Traffic came to a grinding halt at several places at Moosapet, Khairatabad, Punjagutta and Ameerpet, due to heavy water logging on the roads.
Meanwhile, several residential colonies in the low-lying areas adjacent to Musi river at Chaderghat, Amberpet, Moosram Bagh etc were also inundated due to flooding of the river on account of release of water from Osman Sagar and Himayatsagar reservoirs.
With the IMD authorities warning of heavy rains for another two days, the Telangana government sounded a high alert to the municipal authorities and district administrations to take all steps to prevent any loss of lives.
