A three-hour thundershower brought the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad to a standstill on Friday, inundating the roads and hindering thousands from getting home.
Traffic came to a standstill for four hours, as flood water choked the engines of vehicles and grinded them to a halt. Traffic was stalled in the IT and Financial district zone of Cyberabad.
Manikonda, Madapur, Gachibowli, Miyapur, Kukatpally, Amirpet, Somajiguda, Secunderabad Rail Nilayam, Charminar, Chandrayangutta, LB Nagar and Dilsukhnagar areas faced the worst traffic snarls, leaving residents under severe distress.
In Banjara hills, traffic went haywire for up to 4 kilometers with signaling system malfunctioned. The efforts of the GHMC workers to open manholes and de-clog drainages yielded no results as more water joined the overflowing drains.
Inflows from the catchment area triggered the overflow of Meeralam Tank that resulted in the flooding of the nearby Nehru Zoological Park and forcing it to shutdown indefinitely.
The zoo’s open area, particularly the lion safari, has been inundated with knee-deep water as authorities tried restricting the anilams to their cages.
Zoo authorities said nearly 1500 animals were in the danger of drowning as floodwater began filling their enclosures.
A team of engineers also inspected the Meeralam Tank for breaches and check its strength.
Power supply was affected in many areas including Srinagar colony, Yellareddyguda, Venakatagiri and Yousufguda with rainwater entering transformer enclosures.
South-Central Railway has either cancelled or diverted a few trains after a part of the Vikarabad-Kottagadi line was washed away.
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