Houses, Roads Submerged As Telangana Battles Record-Breaking Rain

Hyderabad:

Six people have died in Telangana as “record-breaking” rainfall continues to batter the state. The incessant rain has caused widespread flooding and damage to roads and crops.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall in the state, but the actual rainfall was much more than that.

A strong vortex formation is believed to have caused the record-breaking rainfall in the state. A vortex is a rotating column of air that forms when there is a lot of moisture in the atmosphere.

A cloudburst in the early hours of Wednesday caused flooding in Mulugu and Bhupalpally districts. Houses were submerged and roads were blocked, cutting off access to several villages. Hundreds have been rescued by boats and helicopters. 

The rainfall intensity is expected to decrease today, but the situation remains critical in some parts of the state.

In the state capital Hyderabad, no rainfall has been reported since yesterday evening, however, Warangal has been flooded, forcing the state government to deploy boats for search and rescue operations. So far, the Warangal Police have rescued 50 people while over 10,000 people have been shifted to relief camps across the rain-affected districts. 

Union Tourism and Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy spoke with Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the prevailing flood situation in Telangana.

“Hon’ble HM has promised all possible help in the rescue and relief works for safe guarding the people of Telangana during this situation. Presently 2 helicopters are in service. 5 NDRF teams are also deployed for the rescue and relief works. Rescue mission for the stranded people underway,” Mr Reddy said in a tweet.

Over in Maharashtra, heavy rainfall in Mumbai over the last couple of days has led to waterlogging in several areas of the city, as well as traffic jams and delays on suburban train services.

On Thursday, Mumbai and neighbouring Raigad district were issued a red alert by the IMD, warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places and extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places. The weather office has issued a yellow alert for Mumbai for today, predicting heavy rainfall at isolated places while Thane has been issued an orange alert.

Following the incessant rainfall, a landslide on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway near Kamshet tunnel on Thursday night blocked one lane of the road, causing traffic jams. Highway police personnel were working to clear the debris on the busy 6-lane road.