Heavy downpour in Hyderabad inundates colonies, hospitals

Hyderabad, Aug 31: Heavy rains battered Hyderabad on Wednesday and inundated not just roads and low-lying residential areas but also hospitals and railway stations in the heart of the city.

Water gushed into ESI Hospital in Sanathnagar due to incessant rains. The OPD block and some rooms were flooded causing severe inconvenience to patients. The staff had a tough time too.

Rain water also gushed into the premises of Gandhi Hospital, a major government-run hospitals.

The reservation complex at Khairatabad railway station was also flooded, damaging furniture and equipments.

The heavy downpour also forced railway authorities to suspend Multi-Modal Transport System (MMTS) services. The commuters were stranded at various railway stations in and around the city.

Two-to-three feet of water on the usually busy Raj Bhavan Road in front of the Governor's residence brought traffic to a halt.

Residential colonies in Champapet, RTC Cross Roads and Vidyanagar too were inundated. Water overflowing from open and underground drains entered the houses causing damages around. 

Residents complained they had not received any help from officials.

The city and outskirts received about 10 cm rainfall in just over three hours, the highest in 15 years, said officials. Some areas like Fever Hospital received 12 cm rainfall.

The poor drainage system here was unable to cope with the excess rainwater. Almost all roads turned into cesspools due to overflowing drains and manholes.

The downpour brought back the memories of August 2000 when 24 cm rainfall on the intervening night of August 23-24 had killed 26 people and damaged hundreds of houses.