Hyderabad battered by heavy overnight rain, flash floods in some parts

www.mangaloretoday.com

Hyderabad, Oct 18, 2020: Heavy overnight rain left several parts of Hyderabad flooded, days after deadly downpour left at least 50 people dead and caused damage worth thousands of crores in Telangana. The Balanagar Lake in the state capital breached its boundaries last night, causing huge flash floods in nearby areas.

Frightening visuals showed vehicles being swept away as streets got submerged in water, and massive downpour caused huge damage in the state capital and nearby areas. This morning, videos showed people on their rooftops after floodwater entered their houses.

Due to the rains old Kurnool road towards airport from pvnr expressway is having waterflow over road. All public going towards airport/Bangalore  or coming from airport/Bangalore to city are advised to use outer ring road," Prakash Reddy, DCP Shamshabad, tweeted.

In a minute-long clip, an auto rickshaw and a car were seen being swept away as locals tried to stop the vehicles from being washed away. Another dramatic visual from Abdullapurmet, on the outskirts of Hyderabad, showed a car at a flooded street being pulled away.

Some areas in the city received more than 150 mm rain through the day, just a little short of the 190 mm reported on Tuesday.

The Disaster Response Force (DRF) personnel of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) were continuously working on the field clearing water stagnations and inundations and all possible measures were being initiated in view of the rainfall, Vishwajit Kampati, Director, Vigilance and Disaster Management of GHMC, said in a tweet.

The weather office in Hyderabad said light to moderate rain or thundershowers are very likely to occur in some parts of the city on Sunday; while one or two places may see intense spells.

On Thursday, the state government said that 50 people had lost their lives due to heavy rain and flash floods and early estimates showed losses at around ₹ 6,000 crore.

Authorities have been carrying out relief operations in the rain-affected areas, even as some localities, close to water bodies, remained underwater.

Personnel from the army and the National Disaster Response Force were deployed to evacuate stranded residents.

While Telangana is the hardest-hit by floods, neighbouring states - Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka - have also been affected.