Hyderabad rains: 1 dead, 3 feared missing as heavy downpour throws life out of gear

Heavy rains in Hyderabad and its outskirts on Sunday evening claimed one life and left at least three others feared missing in separate incidents. The downpour also caused major waterlogging, traffic jams, and a wall collapse, throwing normal life in the city completely out of gear, Deccan Chronicle reported.

In Mallepally, two men were washed away in the overflowing Afzal Sagar nala. According to eyewitnesses, an elderly man slipped and fell into the drain. His son-in-law tried to pull him out but both were swept away by the strong current.

Teams from the police and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) have launched a search operation to trace them.

In another case in Musheerabad, a 24-year-old youth named Sunny was sitting on a retaining wall near a nala when the wall collapsed under the pressure of the water. He fell in and was quickly washed away by the gushing waters.

Worker killed in wall collapse

Meanwhile, in Vattinagulapally under Gachibowli Police Station limits, a wall at an under-construction convention hall collapsed due to the rains. One worker, 24-year-old Sekhar Mandal, died on the spot while four others sustained injuries. One of the injured is in critical condition and is undergoing treatment at a hospital.

Roads flooded

The heavy rains on Sunday brought Hyderabad to a standstill. The city received around 12 cm of rainfall in just a few hours, flooding roads and turning many areas into temporary lakes.

At Road Number 12 in Banjara Hills, near the Integrated Police Command and Control Centre, traffic came to a complete halt as vehicles were stuck in knee-deep water.

Greater Hyderabad Mayor Vijayalaxmi Gadwal was on the ground, supervising clearance operations in waterlogged zones. Several busy localities including Sheikhpet, Manikonda, Golconda, Mehdipatnam, Toli Chowki, Lakdi Ka Pul, Jubilee Hills, Film Nagar, Somajiguda, Panjagutta, and Ameerpet were heavily affected by the flooding.

On the outskirts, Abdullahpurmet recorded the highest rainfall at 13 cm. Musheerabad registered 12.1 cm, Jawaharnagar 11 cm, Osmania University 10.1 cm, and Maredpally 9.5 cm.