Heavy rains trigger traffic snarls across Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Heavy rains accompanied by strong winds on Tuesday, disrupting normal life and causing severe traffic congestion especially during the evening rush hour. The rainfall that began in the evening coincided with peak hours resulting in long traffic snarls across major roads in the city.

During the evening hours, the office-goers faced a harrowing ordeal as roads were paralysed by severe water logging. Commuters faced long delays as waterlogged roads slowed vehicular movement in several areas, especially during peak hours. Motorists took shelter under flyovers and metro pillars until the intensity of the rain subsided.

Areas including Madhapur, Gachibowli and the Financial District witnessed an intense spell of rainfall that continued for more than 30 minutes. Several roads in the Cyberabad region were inundated, affecting vehicular movement during peak office hours as thousands of employees left their workplaces.

Heavy rain lashed several parts of Hyderabad, including Khairatabad, Musheerabad, Secunderabad, Narayanguda, Himayatnagar, Kavadiguda, Jeedimetla, Moosapet, Kukatpally, and Gajularamaram.

The intense rains caused water logging in low-lying areas and severely disrupted daily life. The rains lashed other areas like Ameerpet, Begumpet, Nampally, Koti, Chaderghat, Malakpet, Dilsukhnagar, LB Nagar, Kothapet, Bowenpally, Jubilee Hills, Banjara Hills, Filmnagar, Borabanda, and areas of the Old city - Kalapather, Chandrayangutta, TalabKatta, Yakutpura, Azampura, Malakpet and other areas.

Traffic congestion was witnessed at Lakdikapul, Ranigunj, Khairtabad, KCP junction, Road No 12 Virinchi Hospital Junction, Punjagutta, Raj Bhavan road. The worst affected was reported at the Masab Tank - Tolichowki - Shaikpet road towards Gachibowli and Madhapur, IKEA and the entire IT corridor.

Hyderabad City In-charge Minister Ponnam Prabhakar reviewed the situation by speaking over the phone with the GHMC Commissioner, Hyderabad District Collector and Hyderabad City Police Commissioner. He directed officials to remain vigilant and continuously monitor the situation on the ground.

The minister directed the Electricity, HYDRAA, GHMC, Police and Traffic departments to work in coordination and take all necessary measures to ensure that residents and commuters do not face difficulties due to the rains.

Meanwhile, HYDRAA Commissioner AV Ranganath conducted field-level inspections and reviewed the arrangements made to deal with waterlogging. He supervised the removal of stagnant water beneath the Secunderabad Clock Tower flyover using high-capacity motors.

According to HYDRAA, its control room received complaints regarding fallen trees at nine locations till 7 pm. Teams were sent to the affected areas and cleared the obstructions. Similarly, complaints of water stagnation were received from four locations, where HYDRAA teams took up pumping and clearance operations. Ponnam Prabhakar advised people to remain alert and directed officials to take immediate measures to prevent inconvenience to the public.

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The Hans India