Heavy rainfall in Kamareddy and Medak districts of Telangana triggered flash floods on Wednesday, inundating a few towns and villages and bringing road and rail traffic between Hyderabad and Kamareddy to a halt.
Flood water from overflowing rivulets, streams and lakes flooded highways, railway tracks, residential areas in towns and villages, trapping several people.
Farmers and workers were caught in overflowing streams at a few places and were waiting to be rescued. People in a few marooned villages have taken shelter on rooftops.
Pocharam reservoir in Nagireddypet mandal on the border between Nizamabad and Medak districts was overflowing, posing a flood threat to nearby areas. Officials said the reservoir received massive inflows from upstream due to heavy rains since Tuesday night.
The reservoir was overflowing by about eight feet. About 1.30 lakh cusecs were flowing above the reservoir. This has inundated the Medak-Yellareddy highway, bringing the vehicular traffic to a halt.
A farmer went missing, and five others were trapped in Upper Maneru near Gambhiraopet in Rajanna Sircilla district. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar spoke to one of the trapped persons over the phone and assured full support to rescue them.
Collector Sandeep Kumar Jha and SP Mahesh B. Gite said that essential food items were delivered using drones to those trapped.
The five men had gone to graze cattle but were stranded in floods. Rescue efforts were intensified with the deployment of a State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team, while immediate food support was ensured through drone delivery.
A physician died in a wall collapse in Kamareddy district. The deceased was identified as Vinay.
A car was washed away in the Nakkavagu stream in Havelighanpur mandal in Medak district. Personnel of SDRF rescued the man who was driving the car.
Authorities suspended vehicular movement between Hyderabad and Nizamabad as water was flowing over the National Highway 44 at Narsingi in Medak district. Hundreds of vehicles were stranded on the highway.
The flood water submerged the tracks on the Bhiknur-Talmadla section and Akanpet-Medak section of Hyderabad Division, disrupting rail traffic between Hyderabad and Nizamabad. South Central Railway cancelled, partially cancelled or diverted some trains.
Parts of Kamareddy town were also flooded. Television visuals showed cars getting washed away in the town.
Floodwater also entered houses in some areas of the town. Authorities were shifting people from low-lying colonies to safer places.
People in Komattipalli village in Lingampeta mandal of Kamareddy district climbed on rooftops. An ex-serviceman sent a video appealing to authorities to rescue people.
Pedda Cheruvu Lake in Bibipet mandal of Kamareddy district was also overflowing, inundating crops over a large area.
Very heavy rains have lashed Kamareddy and Medak districts since Tuesday night.
Rajampet in Kamareddy district received record rainfall of 41.83 cm between 8.30 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
According to the Telangana Development Planning Society, Kamareddy received 28 cm rainfall. Havelighanpur in Medak district recorded 26.13 cm rainfall. Bhiknoor in Kamareddy district received 23.8 cm rainfall.
Twenty other places in Medak, Kamareddy, Karimnagar, Rajanna Sircilla and Siddipet districts recorded rainfall between 11.65 and 20.20 cm.
According to Arvind Kumar, Special Chief Secretary, Disaster Management, more than 30 cm rainfall was received in Kamareddy and Medak districts during the last 24 hours.
The state government said 504 persons were rescued by the SDRF and Fire Services department from flood-hit areas in Kamareddy and Medak districts
Nine people stranded on a tanker in a stream at the Boggugudise village in Yellareddy mandal were rescued by SDRF and police.
Ministers P. Srinivasa Reddy, Tummala Nageswara and D. Sridhar Babu, along with Chief Secretary Ramakrishna Rao, held a tele-conference with District Collectors to review the situation.
Revenue Minister Srinivasa Reddy directed that additional teams of SDRF be sent to Medak, Kamareddy, Nirmal and Sircilla districts.
A control room has been set up at the State Secretariat in Hyderabad to monitor the situation.