Hyderabad: Many areas wait for a full day for electricity

Hyderabad: Residents of many areas had to wait between 10 hours and a full day before power was restored following Monday’s gales and rain.

It was also found on Tuesday that the Qutub Shahi Idgah at Madannapet had sustained damage in the storm. As many as 230 trees got uprooted and tree branches fell on roads or snapped power cables in 407 instances.

The Qutb Shahi Idgah, said to the first to be built in the Qutub Shahi era over 425 years ago, saw a part of the dome collapse due to the rains. The structure is said to predate the Charminar. Wakf Board officials visited the site and made a note of the damage. Yakutpura MLA Ahmed Pasha Quadri visited the site and asked the archaeology department to rebuild the structure before Id-ul-Fitr.

The roofing of a stand of the Uppal stadium that the storm blew away was found on a road nearby. Power lines in the area were badly damaged by the uprooted trees.

Many parts of the city had their power lines snapped when tree branches fell. In some colonies, the tree branches which fell on the power cables and dragged down the electricity poles as well. The roads were dirty with slush and garbage washed in by the rain.

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Marredpally, Vikram-puri, Trimulgherry, AOC, Uppal, Tarnaka, Khairatabad, Kukatpally, Serilingampally and parts of Old City had no power throughout the night. Mr Kush Bhandari, a resident of Trimulgherry, said, “There is no power in our colonies for 24 hours. We are constantly calling the department but there is no response. Three trees and two electric poles got uprooted due to which the power has not been restored.”

Mrs Malathi Iyer, a resident of Uppal, said, “The uprooted tree in the colonies is not a priority for the GHMC and they have not come despite several reminders. The tree is on the power lines and the electricity department says that till the tree is removed they cannot connect their power lines. We are still waiting for power to be restored.”

The GHMC found it difficult to clear the debris, and the people could only wait in the sweltering heat. The GHMC stated that Secunderabad had the highest number of tree falls at 71 trees and 226 branches and 42 trees were uprooted in LB Nagar. It said 43 uprooted trees and 77 branches were yet to be removed.

The GHMC said most of the trees that fell were Peltophorum pterocarpum (yellow flame tree), apart from neem, tamarind and copper trees.

Residents said that a number of cars and two-wheelers were damaged when trees and branches fell on them.