Hyderabad: 10 evacuated from ICU as flood inundates hospital

Hyderabad: As many as ten patients were evacuated from the emergency section of the Malla Reddy Narayana multi-specialty hospital, located at Jeedimetla, after rainwater began flooding it on Sunday afternoon.

The unexpected heavy rains brought rainwater, along with muck and filth, gushing into the emergency ward. The rainwater came in from outside the ground floor, taking the emergency staff by surprise.

The security staff, ward boys and nurses rushed to shift the patients and the equipment to higher locations to safeguard them.

“There was little water that entered the hospital. There was danger to the patients and no damage was done to any equipment in the ward,” an employee of the hospital, requesting anonymity, said. The rains continue to create trauma for people as rice bags, plastic waste and waste from shops blocked and choked nalas across Secunder-abad, leading to heavy flooding on Sunday afternoon.

Once again, a spurt of sporadic rains have left the city inundated bringing traffic to a standstill. This time, however, it was not just the rains that left people running under flyovers for cover, a slew of filth, especially plastic waste, had clogged the drains and nalas. This resulted in all the water being accumulated on the roads with no way to escape.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation’s (GHMC’s) monsoon emergency teams, who were clearing the waste, were seen fishing out bundles of plastic, which included used rice bags, plastic bags and waste.

These bags did not allow water to flow into the drains, say GHMC officials.This situation persisted in place like Champapet, Nala Bazaar near RP Road, Sarunar Nagar, behind the Gandhi Hospital, Yakutpura, and at D-Mart near L B Nagar.

Despite it being Sunday, with not many motorists, the rainwater-clogged roads made city journeys an arduous task.

“We will collect all the waste and weigh it on Monday. Only then will we have an idea as to how much waste was thrown into these nalas,” a senior GHMC official said.

Ironically, this comes during a time when governments are considering placing a ban on plastic bags which are lesser than 50 microns in thickness. Residents, however, say that these bags are a common sight in all local bazaars. “Some supermarkets are even charging us for the bags,” said Shiva Sai, a resident of Kukatpally. Officials of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) predict that there would be more rain in the state during the next three days, and had issued a heavy rainfall warning for the next three days. “Heavy rainfall is very likely to occur at isolated places over Telangana,” reads the warning. As of 8 pm on Sunday, the highest rainfall in the city was registered at the Rajiv Gruha Kalpa in Jagadgirigutta (at 95.8 mm), closely followed by Ushodaya Colony Park, Gajularam-aram (92.5 mm) and Shapur Nagar with 85.3 mm of rainfall.