Hyderabad: On way out, rain hits hard

Hyderabad: Heavy rain pounded the city on Monday during the peak hours, causing major traffic jams in the city. The roads were jammed and the traffic police asked people to be careful on the road.  

Exasperated by another day of having to negotiate inundated roads, KPHB resident Durga K. Bhavani who was travelling on the ESI Hospital road posted a picture on social media and exclaimed that she had to be extremely cautious while driving so as not to splash anyone with rainwater. RTC drivers buses had no such compunctions.

“There is so much rainwater on the roads that we have to be careful when we drive, water could enter the engine and destroy it,” said S. Tejas, a student who was travelling back home after his classes.

Even as the city, was struggling to return to normalcy in the recent spate of rains, Monday’s downpour made matters worse.

IT employees heading to Hitec City via Secunderabad were affected, as both areas received heavy rain, “The rains have clogged most of the roads, there is a very small path for cars to drive on. Everyone seems to be in a race to drive in the dry lane,” said Mr Srinivas Mupalla, who was driving back from Hitec City.

People were also cautioned by both the Cyberabad and Hyderabad traffic police stations that there was severe inundation of roads and had asked them to choose alternative routes.

‘There is slow movement due to water logging near Shilparamam, commuters travelling towards JNTU, are advised to take alternative routes via Kotha-guda, Kondapur, Miya-pur crossroads,’ one alert said. Restrictions were placed on the road from Jubilee Hills check post towards Madhapur.

However, it was not just motorists, even those who had opted to travel by cab were in for a shock of their life. “The cab service is showing me price of Rs 2,600 for a ride along ORR,” said Mr K.V.S.  Sridhar.

The Indian Meteoro-logical Department (IMD) said things would be better on Tuesday. “There is a trough that has originated over the state. We expect it to subside by Tuesday. From then, the rain would be patchy,” said Mr Y.K. Reddy, IMD-Hyderabad director, on what was supposed to be the last day of the monsoon.