Rains batter districts, Hyderabad soaked all day

Hyderabad: For the second day in a row, Hyderabad witnessed cloudy skies and drizzles throughout the day, followed by spells of moderate to heavy rains later in the night. Very heavy rains, however, were confined to other districts in the state.

According to data from the Telangana State Development Planning Society, until 8 pm, Mudhole in Nirmal district received the highest rainfall in the state at 203.5 mm. About seven places in Nizamabad district got over 150 mm of rain. Mancherial and Kamareddy districts also received heavy rainfall.

In Hyderabad, Borabanda got the maximum rainfall of 31 mm until 8 pm, followed by Hafeezpet (26.8 mm) and Madhapur (21.8 mm), with more rainfall expected later in the night.

After issuing a red alert for a few districts for the two last days, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) did not issue any warning for Sunday. However, an orange alert, indicating heavy rain, has been issued for isolated places in Adilabad, Komaram Bheem Asifabad, Mancherial, Nirmal and Nizamabad districts. A yellow alert has been issued for multiple districts.

For Hyderabad, IMD forecast light to moderate rain or thundershowers. “At times intense spells are very likely to occur in the city,” it said.
IMD has issued an advisory for farmers and livestock rearers to protect their crops and livestock in view of the heavy rainfall in the state.

As per the advisory, farmers have been advised to drain out excess water from the fields of rain-fed crops like cotton, red gram and maize by making water channels. “For vegetables, they can apply carbofuran 3G granules and spray profenophos. Taking up sowing of cotton up to July 20 is recommended and 20-24 kg of phosphorus per acre can be applied at the time of sowing,” it said.

During thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty winds, IMD said livestock rearers must keep animals away from open water, ponds, rivers, tractors and other metal equipment at farms. “Avoid tying cattle to electrical poles and tree trunks,” states the advisory from IMD.

Apart from this, prevailing conditions are favourable for cattle and buffaloes contracting foot and mouth diseases, against which they should be vaccinated.