Telangana has already recorded 27 per cent excess rainfall this monsoon.
Hyderabad:Hyderabad woke up on Tuesday to scenes of chaos and waterlogging after an evening of heavy rain that left the city crippled. Scooters lay half-submerged in underpasses, buses stood stranded in long queues, and shopkeepers rolled up shutters to find counters and shelves drenched. Families in bastis spent the night pushing out muddy water with buckets after motors failed during power cuts, while commuters waded through ankle- to knee-deep stretches that refused to drain.
The India Meteorological Department has issued a yellow alert for more rain this week as a low-pressure system lingers over the Bay of Bengal. Telangana has already recorded 27 per cent excess rainfall this monsoon.
The sharp downpour on Monday evening — 106 mm in Shaikpet and 100 mm in Srinagar Colony — brought traffic and daily life to a standstill. By dawn, the Kukatpally underpass had turned into a pond, trapping cars overnight and forcing auto drivers to turn back.
In LB Nagar, water rose to wheel height, immobilising buses and cars through the night. “I left home at 7 am and reached my office at 10. For most of that time, the bus didn’t move more than a few metres,” said Srilatha, an office worker.
Upscale neighbourhoods in Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills were hit as rainwater cascaded down slopes into colonies. In Devarakonda Colony, homes stayed waterlogged well past sunrise. “We had just pumped out water from Sunday’s rain, and by evening it was inside again. With no power, the motor couldn’t run. We sat with buckets the whole night,” said Kavitha, a homemaker.
The IT corridor fared no better. Service roads in Madhapur and Gachibowli turned into fast-flowing streams, forcing office-goers to take shelter under Metro stations. Near Cyber Towers, bikes floated in the water while stranded workers used mobile torches to pick their way across footpaths. Narrow lanes in Borabanda and Sanathnagar were waist-deep, residents wading out early morning to fetch essentials.
Commercial areas too bore the brunt. In Erragadda, kirana shop owner Abdul Rahman said, “Water rushed in so quickly that everything up to the counter was soaked. We had to throw away packets and cartons by morning.” In Somajiguda, vendors swept out water mixed with sewage from overflowing manholes.
“Every time it rains, we are prisoners in our own homes. The roads flood, the power goes, and water enters the house. How long can this continue?” asked Suresh, a resident of LB Nagar.
The Old City witnessed similar scenes, with Malakpet and Koti reporting sewage bursts from manholes and traffic gridlocks at Basheerbagh and Lakdikapul. Rajendranagar and Attapur colonies were cut off, while in Puppalguda and Kokapet basement parking lots remained flooded, cars bobbing in murky pools.
GHMC and Disaster Response Force teams deployed pumps overnight, clearing some junctions by morning. But residents in Kukatpally and Shaikpet said help came too late. Officials blamed clogged drains and nala encroachments, but citizens questioned why repeated promises of desilting and rainwater harvesting have yielded little.
Across Telangana, three deaths were reported — two women killed by lightning and a man swept away in Warangal. Hyderabad escaped fatalities, though property losses were widespread, with household goods, shop inventories, and vehicles damaged.
