Hyderabad: One woman died while six suffered injuries as 47 trees and street light poles fell due to the hail and thunderstorm that wreaked havoc in the city on Saturday.
Sadarmahal at Malak-pet recorded the highest rainfall at 30.8 mm, Saroornagar recorded 13.3 mm of rainfall, while Malkajgiri and Zoo Park both recorded 12.5 mm.
The 60-year-old Nekh-ath Sultana, a resident of Puppalaguda in Mani-konda, was sitting below a tree at the Nehru Zoological Park when it got completely uprooted and fell on her.
She died on the spot, and five others in the park suffered injuries.
The state government has announced an ex gratia of `5 lakhs to the family of the deceased.
Another victim suffered injuries in a tree fall at the Falaknuma railway station and was given first aid by the disaster management team.
Huge trees fell near the High Court and in Baha-durpura, Hussaini Alam, Mishrigunj, Madina Circle, Noor Khan Bazaar, Falaknuma, Shalibanda, and Moghal-pura in the Old City.
Broken branches strewn on the roads became an impediment to the movement of vehicles.
At Zoo Park, strong winds uprooted about 50-60 trees of Neem, Tamarind, Babul, Cassia, Gulmohar and Peltop-horum. Large branches have fallen off causing extensive damage to the power lines and visitor pathways.
Immediate measures were taken by the Zoo authorities to evacuate the visitors duly engaging all the battery vehicles, Safari buses and all vehicles of zoo.
The curator, deputy curator, assistant curators, and entire zoo staff took part in evacuating all the visitors safely outside the zoo.
Near Falaknuma Circle and in the Charminar Zone, street light poles fell due to the impact of the heavy wind and rain.
Water stagnation was noted in Talabkatta, Bhavani Nagar, Kala Pathar, Yakutpura, and Kishan Bagh. Residents in Yakutpura took to the streets and helped clear the drainage to allow the flow of water. Manholes overflowed in Bahadur-pura, which led to black silt deposits and a persisting stink on the streets.
Water stagnation was also noted near Malakpet bridge, Dabeerpura bridge, and Chandrayan-gutta bridge, and commuters suffered in the resultant traffic jams in the areas.
A parapet wall in Noor Khan Bazaar collapsed after a tree fell on it and three bikes were damaged as a result. The fierce wind blew away the display boards outside shops in and around Charminar and Sha Ali Banda.
Clearing the water off the roads took a while as the GHMC teams had to clear the silt to ensure no obstruction in the flow of water.
Due to the hailstorm warning, the GHMC has asked all engineers to report to them the respective areas where water gets stagnated.
