Rain cools Hyderabad, thrashes districts

Hyderabad: A thunderstorm on Thursday brought relief to the city that has been baking at the start of summer. The city recorded 4.5 mm of rain up to 8.30 pm Thursday.

Rains and strong winds played havoc across Adilabad and Nizamabad districts. Over 28,000 acres of crops were destroyed in Nizamabad.

Maize, paddy, chilly and mango crops were destroyed in Gadwala, and brick kilns were submerged. In the market yards of Adilabad, 12,000 quintals of red gram was destroyed, and chilly and mango crops were damaged in farms.

In Mancherial district, mango, maize, cotton and chilly fields were submerged. Rain with hailstones continued on the second consecutive day in Nizamabad district.

Parts of Kamareddy and Banswada areas experienced hailstorms. As a result, power supply was disrupted at several areas as trees and electrical poles were uprooted.

In Nizamabad and Armoor, paddy, maize, turmeric and mango crops on around 10,000 acres were damaged. The district administration of Nizamabad and Kamareddy alerted the manual officials over crop and house damage.

Back in Hyderabad,  heavy rain was recorded across Kukatpally, Serillingampally, A.S. Rao Nagar, Marredpally, Erragadda, Temple Alwal, Malkajgiri, Kondapur, Sanath Nagar, Begumpet, S.R. Nagar. These areas reported traffic jams and power fluctuations too.

The downpour in the city came as a complete surprise and home-bound traffic was thrown out of gear. Though it lasted for just half an hour, high winds accompanying the rain caused blackouts in many areas as transformers and power lines were disrupted. The weather conditions, including heavy rain, could repeat on March 17 too, the weather department said.