Hyderabad: Musi River Swells, Inundates Low-Lying Areas

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Mayor Gadwal Vijayalaxmi said 1,500 residents living near the Musi downstream areas have been evacuated and shifted to shelter homes due to increased flow of floodwater. Necessary arrangements have been made for the citizens at the shelter homes in coordination with the Revenue Department and the city police, she tweeted.

The Musi river originates at Vikarabad bordering Hyderabad and flows into Krishna river in Nalgonda district.?The reservoirs at Himayath Sagar and Osman Sagar in the city were close to the FTL (full- tank level) at 11 AM on Wednesday.The IMD here said heavy rainfall occurred at isolated places in Bhadradri-Kothagudem, Jangaon, Khammam and Ranga Reddy districts of Telangana.

The Met centre said heavy rain is very likely to occur at isolated places in Bhadradri-Kothagudem, Suryapet ?and other districts on July 28. Light-to-moderate rain or thundershowers are very likely to occur at many places on July 28, it said in a release. State Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao, who held a video conference with officials today, directed municipalities to work with the aim of preventing loss of human life.

He told the officials to expedite relief measures in the rain-hit areas in Hyderabad and other places, a release from his office said. Rama Rao asked the officials to focus also on low-lying areas in towns to conduct rescue and relief operations. He suggested that old buildings which may collapse be removed, it said.

The Minister asked the officials to be prepared in the event of rains continuing in the coming days, the release added. Cyberabad Police Commissioner M Stephen Raveendra urged citizens not to venture out unnecessarily in view of the heavy rains and assured that the police was prepared to deal with any crisis.

To take stock of the situation in rain-inundated areas, the Cyberabad police chief, along with senior police officials, visited Himayat Sagar lake, Himayat Sagar Service road and Gandipet lake, an official release said. “All precautionary measures are being taken and situation is being monitored closely. Police personnel are deployed round-the-clock in the surrounding areas of the lakes and constantly monitoring the inflows and outflows. The situation is under control,” the police official said.

Due to heavy flood in Musi river, the Moosarambagh bridge was closed from Tuesday evening and no traffic is allowed between Amberpet/ Kachiguda and Moosarambagh/ Malakpet, a release from Hyderabad police said.

After the flood recedes in Musi, the Moosarambagh bridge would be opened to public and this is likely to be on Thursday only, they said. Meanwhile, a couple from Vikarabad district of Telangana, was washed away in Kagina river on the State's border with Karnataka and their bodies were found in Chincholi taluk of Kalaburagi district of Karnataka this morning, a senior police official said. It was not clear when they were swept away, he said, adding that the couple was suspected to have been washed away two days ago.

(With PTI inputs)