HYDERABAD/JOGULAMBA/GADWAL/ADILABAD: Intense and continuous rain disrupted the pace of life in Hyderabad, particularly in Old City, on Wednesday. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a ‘yellow weather warning’ several times on the day, pertaining to heavy and intense rain in parts of the city and Telangana.
According to the IMD, the rain is likely to continue in Hyderabad and other districts till the weekend (July 19), with a few intermittent dry spells on July 17 and 18. The weatherman attributed the rainfall to a trough between Jharkhand and the neighbourhood, because of which there is a blanket of moisture hovering over Telangana.
According to the reports from the automatic weather stations of the Telangana State Development Planning Society (TSDPS), Sangareddy registered the heaviest rainfall with 194 mm, which is unusual. Mancherial came second with 130 mm and Siddipet 126.8 mm. Many other areas also received rain above 60 mm.
In Hyderabad, Kukatpally received 95.8 mm, while most of the suburbs registered an average of 50 mm. As the city roads cannot withstand anything over 30 mm, several areas were waterlogged. The Director of the Enforcement, Vigilance and Disaster Management wing of the GHMC promptly cleared waterlogged areas and trees from roads. The team responded to 30 complaints of uprooted trees and flooding.
According to the IMD officials, the monsoon is likely to be active across the State during the next two weeks. Already, the overnight rain has filled up the tanks, streams and reservoirs in erstwhile Khammam district. Kothagudem district received an average rainfal l of 20.9 mm, while Khammam received 14.9 mm in the past 24 hours. Palvoncha in Kothagudem received 6.5 mm and Penuballi mandal in Khammam received 4 mm.
Standing crop affected
As a result, many low-lying areas and roads in both the districts were inundated, throwing traffic out of gear. Standing crops at several areas were damaged and house walls collapsed in some areas. But there were no reports of loss of life.
The village- and mandal-level officials were told to be alert to address any emergency. Kothagudem Collector MV Reddy and Khammam Collector RV Karnan advised residents in low-lying areas to be cautious. Inflows into the Kinnerasani reservoir also increased. On Tuesday night, two gates were lifted to discharge 5,000 cusecs of water. The water level in the Godavari river at Bhadrachalam in Kothagudem district reached 13.3 ft with a discharge of 74,723 cusecs on Wednesday morning.
On the other hand, the downpour disturbed coal transport and production. In erstwhile Adilabad district, river projects and tanks are brimming with inflows. River water is flowing over lowlevel bridges in a few mandals, making it difficult for people to cross these.
The Kaddam project as well as the Kuntala and Pochera waterfalls are also gushing with water. The highest rainfall recorded in the erstwhile district is 123.3 mm at Bheemini mandal. Kaddam project received inflows of 2,074 cusecs. Its FRL is 700 ft, and the water level is at 685.3 ft.
Tummilla brims with inflows
Officials are preparing to release water from the Tummilla lift irrigation scheme, and have prepared an action plan to release it to the Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme (RDS) ayacut. As the upstream areas of the Tungabhadra river are receiving heavy rainfall, it is likely that flood water would flow to downstream areas.
The Sunkesula barrage has 292 ft of water and there is no scope to lift water from the project unless it receives water from the upstream areas. Of the three pumps, two have been readied to lift water. Officials would release the water this week.