15 minute rain brings Hyderabad to a halt

Hyderabad: The sudden downpour, which created havoc across Greater Hyderabad on Friday evening, claimed lives of two persons, uprooted trees and electricity poles. The 15-minute rain literally brought Hyderabad city to a grinding halt.

Two die in rain-related incidents

A forty-two-year-old plumber Ahmed Bin Ibrahim died when two overhead water tanks being installed in an under construction building fell on his hut in Jahangir Nagar under the Bhavani Nagar police station limits. He died on the spot due to severe head injury, while another person in the hut suffered injuries.

In another incident at Tolichowki, a thirty-five-year-old labourer Yellaiah died on the spot near Trinity Church in Tejaswini colony due to wall collapse.

The compound wall of a private shed with aluminum sheets fell on Yellaiah and another person when they were taking shelter beside the shed to protect from rain. Yellaiah died on the spot and his associate suffered injuries.

He was shifted to Osmania Hospital for treatment and it is learnt that he is out of danger. It rained just when office-goers were planning to go home. Rains coupled with winds disrupted normal life in the twin cities in a matter of minutes between 5:30 pm to 5:45 pm on Friday.

Almost all low-lying areas were waterlogged and hundreds of vehicles were left stranded on roads. The roads were chock-a-block from Banjara Hills to Baghlingampally. Nearly 14 mm rain was recorded and the city can take 20 mm in an hour.

Traffic jams were reported in Banjara Hills, Jubilee Hills, Khairatabad, Begumpet, Paradise Circle, Kukatpally, Dilsukhnagar, Mehdipatnam, Masab Tank, Mettuguda, Tarnaka and other junctions.

Though it rained for just 15 minutes, the destruction was huge thanks to 50-60 kmph wind speed in some areas. At Jubilee Hills, a uni-pole hoarding crashed on a row of parked cars damaging the vehicles.

Trees fell like nine pins causing traffic jams. Huge trees fell right in the middle of the road. A tree got uprooted near Iranian Consulate and fell on the main road causing traffic jam. Similarly, three trees blocked the road at Vijayanagar Colony.

Reports of heavy damage to electricity lines have been reported from several areas. In all, more than 200 trees were uprooted in the 15-minute mayhem. The civic body was found wanting even as the city was crippled. Out of the 67 transformers damaged eight were restored. The GHMC was flooded with complaints from citizens. It received 197 complaints about fallen trees.

A roof collapsed near Golconda injuring a lady and water flooded in several low-lying areas, especially in slums. Power failure resulted in pumps tripping at Mailardevpally pump house and supply was stopped to Prashanthnagar.

Apart from trees, several billboards fell at several places in the city. The GHMC’s crew were however unable to remove the debris on the roads. The traffic police too were caught off-guard as the rain lashed the city.

People returning home too were stuck in traffic for hours. Clogged roads did not help easy flow of traffic. Ram Kumar, software professional, said, “I was stuck at Begumpet for almost 30 minutes. Bad roads and Metro rail work is causing a lot of inconvenience.”