20 killed as heavy rains lash Hyderabad and suburbs, 10 die in Andhra

Unprecedented torrential rain that wreaked havoc in Hyderabad and its suburbs in the last 24 hours claimed at least 17 lives and threw normal life out of gear.

In other areas in Telangana, another three people died in a house collapse incident in Nagarkurnool district. In neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, too, heavy rains resulted in the death of 10 people in different parts of the state.

As many as nine people including three children were killed and four others injured in two separate incidents of wall collapse at Bandlaguda in the old city of Hyderabad late on Tuesday.

Assistant Commissioner of Police, Falaknuma, MA Majeed confirmed to Hindustan Times that eight people died when huge granite slabs of a compound wall and a few boulders fell on around 10 houses in Mohammadia Hills at Bandlaguda at around 11 pm. One more person died in another wall collapse incident at Phool Bagh Colony, in the same locality.

"Four people sustained serious injuries and are undergoing treatment at Owaisi Hospital," the ACP said.

The GHMC Disaster Management Wing personnel with the assistance of the local police and residents pulled out the bodies from the debris. Several teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were also pressed into service to help the GHMC to remove the debris and check if there were any survivors.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi, who visited Bandlaguda area to supervise the rescue operations, tweeted that nine people were killed in the various wall collapse incidents.

In Gagan Pahad area on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru national highway, three members of a family died in another incident of house collapse. At Ibrahimpatnam, on the outskirts of the city, a woman and her 15-year-old daughter died after the roof of their old house collapsed on them.

A physician died of electrocution, when he was trying to drain out water from his clinic in Banjara Hills on Wednesday morning.

There were reports of two people getting washed away in flash floods at Mylardevpally in Falaknuma area, but there was no confirmation from the police.

At Kummera village of Nagarkurnool district, three people of the same family died when the roof their old house collapsed on them when they were asleep in the early hours of Wednesday. Two others managed to escape with minor injuries, the police said.

Capital city Hyderabad received unprecedented rainfall in the last 24 hours. The intensity of the rainfall increased after 6 pm and went on battering the city all through the night.

According to a bulletin from the State Disaster Management Authority, Singapore township area on the outskirts of city received the maximum of 30.6 cm of rain in a span of 12 hours till 10 pm. The South Hastinapuram area received 28.3 cm of rain till 1 am. The other areas of the city reported rainfall ranging from 11.5 cm to 20.5 cm.

Water level in Hussain Sagar Lake in the middle of the city crossed the full tank level on Tuesday evening and started overflowing on to the city roads. At 6 pm, the water level at Hussain Sagar was recorded at 513.59 meters against the FTL of 513.41 m.

Several low-lying areas in Begum Bazar, Khairatabad, Begumpet, Tolichowki, Shaikpet, Mehdipatnam, Cherlapally, Mallapur, Moula Ali were completely submerged. Storm water entered several residential apartments in Somajiguda, Errum Manzil, Khairatabad and Vijayanagar Colony.

For rescue and relief measures, the disaster response force teams of the GHMC were pressed into service to rescue people in the water-logged areas of Ameerpet, Nagole, Abids, Mehdipatnam, Forum Mall, Goshamahal, CM camp office, Dilsukhnagar, Miyapur Metro station, ECIL, Secunderabad and other places.

The National Disaster Response Force teams also plunged into action and rescued 74 people from the low-lying areas of Bandangpet area.

At Chandrayangutta area, an Indian Army helicopter was pressed into service to air-lift people from the submerged places. At several places like Nadeem Colony, the GHMC deployed boats to bring out people from their water-logged houses.

Chief secretary Somesh Kumar, who had a telephonic conversation with chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, instructed the authorities to be on high alert for the next two days and ensure that rescue operations were taken up on war footing.

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation commissioner Lokesh Kumar appealed to the people not to venture out of their houses unless there was an emergency.

Making a statement in the state legislative council, minister for municipal administration and urban development K T Rama Rao said as many as 40 relief camps were set up where food and water was being arranged for nearly 80,000 people.

Meanwhile, chairman of Telangana power transmission corporation D Prabhakar Rao said all steps were being taken to prevent collapse of the electricity grid due to sudden drop in the demand. All thermal power stations were backed down and only hydel power generation was going on, he said.