Cloudburst disrupts city life, stormwater drain breached in Banjara Hills

Intense cloudburst in Hyderabad exposes public infrastructure flaws, causing floods and traffic chaos, prompting emergency response efforts.

An intense cloudburst of an hour’s duration left the city gasping for breath, and brought to fore the chronic insufficiencies in public infrastructure yet again on Thursday, May 16.

By 6 p.m., the highest rainfall of 8.8 centimetres was recorded at Venkateshwara Colony of Banjara Hills, as per the data gathered from the automatic weather monitoring stations. Malakpet followed with 8.5 centimetres, and Begum Bazar close behind with above 8 centimetres. Krishna Nagar, Langar Houz, Nampally, Asmangadh, and Khairatabad recorded above 7 centimetres. The day which began with bright sun and no trace of clouds, suddenly transformed towards the evening. It began to pour towards Northern part of the city after 3.15 p.m., which soon enveloped the whole city, accompanied by heavy winds.

Under the impact of rain, the slab of a stormwater drain got washed away in Uday Nagar Colony on Road No.9, Banjara Hills, resulting in a breach. Two-wheelers parked by the road were seen floating away in the stormwater. Several vehicles were stranded in the flood water across the city, while flood water entered the Balkampet underpass blocking the route entirely. Reports were received about cars getting stranded in the water in the underpass. The railway bridge at Malakpet too was reportedly besieged by water, resulting in heavy traffic jams on Dilsukhnagar-Koti route. Heavy water logging was reported on the Himayathnagar and Kukatpally main roads and Secretariat road too.

The blinding downpour made it difficult for the road users to negotiate their way through traffic, most of whom travelled at a very slow pace with parking lights on. Some, who felt it unsafe to venture forth, parked their vehicles near the Metro Rail stations and waited for the rain to subside. Added to the traffic woes were the traffic restrictions for VIP movement near the Khairatabad, which left motorists fuming.

Water logging was reported from across the city. Macca Colony in Bahadurpura was knee-deep in water, which made it a risky affair even to step out of homes. Stormwater gushed into colonies and homes, owing to overflowing drains in Gaddiannaram area of Dilsukhnagar. Sewage manholes overflowed with stormwater at a number of locations.

The Disaster Response Force belonging to the Enforcement, Vigilance & Disaster Management wing of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation swung into action clearing major stretches of the floodwater and fallen trees. By 5.30 p.m., the DRF teams received 51 complaints about water stagnation, and cleared 44 of them. Nine complaints were received about tree fall.

Rain could not dampen the spirits of the cricket fans in the city who arrived at the Uppal stadium to watch the IPL match and waited in queue line, thoroughly drenched.