HYDERABAD: Thousands of residents were again left stranded in their homes as floodwater ravaged their localities, especially Hafeezbabanagar, Shivajinagar in Uppuguda, Chandrayangutta, Malakpet, Moosarambagh and several other parts of downstream Musi River on the LB Nagar side. This follows heavy rains that lashed Hyderabad on Saturday evening.
The torrential downpour lasted till late in the night and wreaked havoc in low-lying areas. Residents of Hafeezbabanagar had to literally watch their homes getting submerged as the upstream Gurram Cheruvu (Balapur) and Jillelguda tanks breached at around 1.30 am on Sunday. Due to unprecedented rains the entire south and east zone lost their connectivity to Vijayawada, Kurnool and Warangal highway.
Scary scenes were reported in Hafeezbabanagar, Shivaji Nagar in Uppuguda, Moosa Nagar at the Chaderghat bridge, Al Jubail Colony and the adjoining residential areas.
Water from the breached lakes swept away vehicles while people fled to
the rooftops and cried for help. People who had cleared the piled-up sludge from the residential complexes due to devastation on Wednesday woke up to horrific scenes on Sunday.
“Our houses are completely submerged in the floodwater. Neither the corporator nor the local MLA came to our rescue. The civic authorities too ignored us despite contacting them. About 500 people spent a sleepless night without food and shelter,” said Waheeb Riyaz, a resident of Uppuguda.
"Wednesday's rainfall caused a major devastation and we have not recovered yet. This is the first time in my growing years I am witnessing such floods. We have already suffered property loss on Wednesday and breaching of lakes adds to our woes", lamented Moosa Khan of Hafeezbabanagar. He said that it was back to square one for residents, who had almost cleaned their houses.
Early on Sunday morning two teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and 19 teams of the Disaster Response Force (DRF) of the GHMC are carrying out relief works. About 170 monsoon emergency teams are clearing water across the city. Over 300 motor pumps have been deployed for pumping out flood water and removing piled-up sludge from residential complexes.
Several roads in Hyderabad were submerged after heavy rains battered the city overnight.
In view of the safety of motorists, the traffic police imposed curbs by diverting traffic to other routes. People were asked to avoid taking Malakpet road underbridge, Gaddiannaram-Shiva Ganga road, Moosarambagh and Chaderghat causeway as the routes were closed.
The flyover at Tolichowki and the 100-feet road at Puranapul were also closed.
Traffic was also restricted on Moghul College, Falaknuma Bandlaguda-Aramghar road, Phoolbagh, Mahbubnagar crossroad to IS Sadan up to DMRL crossroad, Falaknuma railway bridge road. This resulted in disconnection of Vijayawada, Bengaluru, Kurnool and Warangal highways from this part of the city for a brief period.
