Flood-like situation again in Telangana

Hyderabad: For the second time in less than two weeks, Telangana is witnessing flood-like situation with heavy rains leaving rivulets, lakes and reservoirs in a spate.

Incessant rains in Hyderabad and some other districts inundated low-lying areas, disrupting road transport and bringing normal life to a halt.

Three persons died in rain-related incidents while one person went missing. Two persons died in a building collapse in Warangal town early Saturday while a person on a motorbike died after hitting a road divider in a flooded area of Medak district.

The heavy downpour led to submergence and damage to the roads and bridges at few places, cutting off the inundated villages and towns.

Rivulets, streams, lakes, reservoirs and other water bodies were in a spate, leading to inundation of nearby human habitations.

Roads turned into lakes in Greater Hyderabad, Medak, Jangaon, Mahabubabad and Sangareddy district saw the fury of heavy rains since Friday evening.

Road traffic was hit on some key highways including Hyderabad-Nagpur and Medak-Hyderabad highways as breaches in lakes flooded the roads at few places.

Shivampet mandal (block) in Medak district experienced heavy rains. The road link between Havelighanpur and Gangapur was cut as the bridge collapsed due to heavy rains. Six cows were washed away in the floods. District administration in Medak declared a holiday for all schools.

Pathur in Medak district recorded the highest rainfall of 26.1 cm rainfall during 24 hours that ended Saturday morning. Devaruppula in Jangaon recorded 25.5 cm and Rajpalli in Medak district saw 24 cm rainfall. Dantepalli in Mahabubabad witnessed 22.2 cm, Medak 21.5, and Jinnaram in Sangareddy district 21.4 cm rainfall.

Low-lying areas in and around Hyderabad were inundated. Bhandari layout in Nizampet was flooded with rain water entering houses. Cellars of several multi-storied buildings were filled with rain water.

Hafeezpet recorded 14 cm rainfall while Jeedimetla and Gajularamaram recorded 13.9 cm and Balanagar 13 cm rainfall.

The fresh spell of heavy rains lashed the state even before it could recover from the Godavari river floods that wreaked havoc in some districts about 10 days ago.

Several reservoirs were receiving massive inflows. Irrigation Department officials opened the gates to let out flood water downstream.