Rain wrecks havoc, trees uprooted

East Marredpally: Half an hour’s rain was enough for chaos and to bring traffic to a grinding halt. Though the citizens welcomed the sudden downpour on Thursday afternoon, the falling of trees and branches on the main roads caused inconvenience and damage to people and vehicles.

Huge branches of a tree on the East Marredpally-Shenoy Nursing Home road fell on the road damaging a scooter but no serious injuries were reported. The police personnel reached the spot within minutes and with the help of locals, the branches were removed and some that were precariously hanging were cut down as a precautionary measure.

In another incident, big branches of a tree near Our Sacred Space too fell on the road causing traffic snarls. However, at the time of the fall there were no people nearby. In the meanwhile, in some low lying areas, water from sewage flowed into the houses and many vehicles were stuck in deep water. Raghuram, a retired railway employee of Sarva Sukhi Colony said, “The GHMC and the SCB need to plant trees that are sturdy and which can withstand strong winds.”

In West Marredpally, near the police station, traffic moved at snail’s pace due to water logging. S V L Radhakrishna, a resident of Teacher’s Colony said, “Few minutes of rain is enough to expose the urban planning. There is no effort on the part of city planners to set it right. We have been living here since three decades; the situation is getting bad to worse.” According to reports received by 5 p.m. close to 20 trees in Secunderabad Cantonment had fallen.