IMD forecasts heavy rains in Telangana for next 3 days; Govt puts NDRF, SDRF on alert

Hyderabad: Heavy rains lashed several parts of Telangana over the past 24 hours, causing waterlogging on roads and disrupting normal life. With the IMD forecasting heavy rainfall over the next three days, officials have stepped up precautionary measures to manage the situation.

In Hyderabad, "light to moderate" showers began on Tuesday night and continued into Wednesday.

State Transport Minister and Hyderabad district in-charge Ponnam Prabhakar, acting on the directions of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, held a review meeting with senior officials to assess preparedness.

Prabhakar urged residents to stay alert and instructed officials to take all necessary steps to minimise public inconvenience.

These include deploying special teams at 141 identified waterlogging points in Hyderabad and keeping National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams on standby.

Those present included Hyderabad Police Commissioner C V Anand, District Collector Hari Chandana Dasari, GHMC Commissioner R V Karnan, HYDRAA Commissioner A V Ranganath, and others, according to an official release.

In light of the forecast, Cyberabad Police issued an advisory on Tuesday night, urging IT and other companies in their jurisdiction to allow employees to work from home.

"An alert has been issued for heavy rains in the Cyberabad area. Considering safety, traffic congestion, and to ensure uninterrupted emergency services, companies may consider Work From Home (WFH) mode," the police posted on 'X'.

According to the IMD’s bulletin issued on Wednesday, heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places in several districts — including Adilabad, Komaram Bheem Asifabad, Mancherial, Karimnagar, Peddapalli, Jayashankar Bhupalapally, Mulugu, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Mahabubabad, Warangal, and Hanamkonda—until 8.30 am on July 24.

The warning extends to Jayashankar Bhupalapally and Mulugu districts until July 25, and to various other districts until July 26.

Thunderstorms with lightning and gusty winds (30-40 kmph) are also expected across the state during this period.

Meanwhile, Venkatapuram in Mulugu district recorded the highest rainfall at 22 cm as of 8.30 am on Wednesday, according to the Telangana Development Planning Society.

Waterlogging was reported in several low-lying areas of Karimnagar and Warangal districts, with rainwater entering homes.

Continuous rainfall over the past few days has caused flooding in many such areas across Telangana.