Hyderabad: As rains, accompanied by heavy winds, continued to lash Hyderabad on Wednesday night, which went on till early Thursday morning, the state capital witnessed waterlogging, uprooting of trees and electricity poles being damaged, leading to massive disruption of power supply across the city for over 24 hours in many parts of Hyderabad.
Madhapur area experienced a total of 65.8 mm of rain, whereas the normal rain expected was 4 mm. On Wednesday morning, pleasant weather prevailed across most parts of the city. It remained sunny throughout the day with light rainfall in some parts of the city.
Several localities including Trimulgherry, Secunderabad, Kukatpally, Amberpet and Himayatnagar received maximum rainfall of 65.8 mm, followed by Moula Ali, which witnessed 59.5 mm rain. Serilingampally and Kapra areas too witnessed heavy rainfall.
According to the forecast by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD)-Hyderabad, the city will witness cloudy sky throughout the day, accompanied by moderate to heavy rain at isolated places, for the next few days.
Rains could be more intense and widespread in some areas of the state with IMD forecasting very heavy downpours on July 11, July 13 and July 14. These showers may be vigorous enough to complete the monthly normal quota of rainfall. This will also break the jinx of making a poor start of monsoon in the July first week.
July and August are the rainiest months for Hyderabad with normal rainfall of 179.2mm and 207mm respectively. Telangana received a surplus of 45 percent rainfall so far in this season and the week ending June 30 recorded an excess of 33 percent. Hyderabad also received 17 percent above normal rainfall so far. A relatively poor start in July is likely to be compensated for in the wet spell between July 8 and July 14. Heavy rains are expected in some parts in the next 24 hours and followed up with a peak spell between July 11 and July 14.
The weather department also issued a three-day thunderstorm warning for several districts of Telangana. According to the IMD, heavy rain is very likely to occur at isolated places in the districts of Komaram Bheem-Asifabad, Mancherial, Nirmal, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Peddapalli, Jayashankar Bhupalapally, Mulugu, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Warangal (Rural) and Warangal (Urban).
According to TSSPDCL officials, heavy rain and winds damaged 686 feeders, out of which power supply has been restored in 708 feeders. Restoring power supply from the rest of the 15 feeders will be completed shortly, a senior official said late Wednesday night.
The primary reasons for the large-scale power blackouts were floodwaters entering the 15 33/11 KV sub-stations, forcing the electricity authorities to shut them down to prevent any accidents. In some cases, the waters also reached up to the transformers in the sub-stations.
Yapral, Baghlinghampally, Madhapur, Uppal and Charminar were among the worst affected areas, TSSPDCL officials said. During the past 24 hours, on Wednesday, officials said their control room received around 15,346 complaints. The other areas of the city that were also affected include Mehdipatnam, Malakpet, Punjagutta, Indira Park, Ameerpet, and Sainikpuri.
"A total of 189 section wise disaster management wings consisting 25 members each are working on resolving the issues," a TSSPDCL official said.
Meanwhile, authorities advised people to be vigilant about power poles, transformers and wires where rain water is stored. TSSPDCL should be notified immediately if wires are found cut on roads or buildings or anywhere. In case of fluctuations in voltage, or power outages, it can be reported to the Special Control Room over 7382072104, 7382072106, 7382072106,7382071574 along with the 1912/100 / local Fuse Off Call office.
