Heavy Rains Claims 7 lives In Hyderabad

Seven persons, including two children, died in two separate incidents of building collapse early this morning after heavy rains lashed Hyderabad and Secunderabad.

The downpour claimed the lives of four persons of a family in Ramanthapur in Uppal and three persons of another family in Bholakpur in Musheerabad.

The victims at Bholapur were identified as Bilkis Begum (25), and her two daughters Zeba (five) and Mariya (two). Those who died in Ramanthapur were identified as Balaswamy, Chinnamma, Parvathy and Shekhar.

The deluge, which went on for three hours, also reduced several houses to rabble and resulted in the roads getting clogged with rain water. Several slums were flooded in different parts of the city. Several sewerage lines, too, overflowed and flooded the main roads. Local train services were hampered as the South Central Railway suspended its services till 4 pm following water-logging on the tracks. The city also experienced power cuts in several areas.

Following the Indian Meteorological Department's forecast for the next two days, the authorities urged commuters to go out only if necessary, especially during the evening hours, as several parts of the city including Banjara Hills, Begumpet, Secunderabad, Nampally, Dilsukhnagar, Nagole, Tarnaka, Shankar Math, Musheerabad, Vidyanagar, Malakpet, Filmnagar, Kacheguda, Koti, Abids, Basheerbagh, Bowenpally, Marredpally, Puranapul and other areas, were experiencing traffic jams.

Telangana Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma contacted the GHMC Commissioner B Janardhan Reddy and reviewed the situation. GHMC Mayor Bonthu Rammohan also rushed to the Head Office to monitor the situation and give necessary instructions to the field staff. They instructed all the GHMC Deputy Commissioners, engineers, workers and other personnel to expedite emergency operations. They, too, advised citizens to avoid venturing out for the next few hours except in case of emergencies.

The GHMC officials said that people could dial the Emergency Control Room For Flood helpline 040-2111-1111, or Emergency Number 100.

Apart from Hyderabad, New Delhi and Gurgaon (now Gurugram) also experienced heavy rainfalls and floods.