Heavy rains lash Hyderabad, inundate low-lying areas

Heavy rains lashed this Andhra Pradesh capital on Thursday, inundating low-lying areas and throwing normal life out of gear.

Heavy rains lashed this Andhra Pradesh capital on Thursday, inundating low-lying areas and throwing normal life out of gear.

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The rains, which began in the early hours, caused severe inconvenience to people living in low-lying areas and to commuters.

Low lying areas in Panjagutta, Khairatabad, Lakdi ka pul, Erram Manzil, Mehdipatnam, Toli Chowki and Dilsukhnagar and several other neighbourhoods were flooded.

Water entered houses in low-lying areas in Nadeem Colony, Rajendernagar, Attapur, Shivajinagar, Prabhakarnagar, Imtiaznagar and other areas. While many people left the areas before water reached danger level, some others were seen sitting on roof tops, waiting for the water to recede.

Overflowing open drains added to people's woes. Vehicular traffic was thrown out of gear in several areas in the central part of the city as almost all the roads were waterlogged.

Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy held a meeting with the officials of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and directed them to be an alert to deal with any contingency.

This was the second time in a week that the city received such heavy rains. Last Thursday, copious rains had brought the city to a grinding halt in the peak evening hours. A man was also washed away in an overflowing open drain.

While the rains brought cheer as it was the first major rain this monsoon and considerably brought down the temperature, it also once again exposed the poor civic infrastructure.

A traffic police official, who was trying to manage traffic at the busy Panjagutta crossing, said the waterlogging was mainly due to the outdated drainage system.