— Shaikh Mohsin
Hyderabad, the bustling capital of Telangana, was battered by heavy rainfall on Sunday, leaving large parts of the city waterlogged. Streets turned into streams, drains overflowed, and the deluge claimed three young lives, plunging the city into mourning.
Two youths from Afzal Sagar's Mangroo Basti in Asif Nagar and another from Vinod Nagar in Musheerabad were swept away by the strong currents of overflowing drains.
The downpour, which began in the morning, showed no signs of easing till the afternoon. In Asif Nagar, a man and his nephew-in-law, whose names have not yet been released, stepped out during the rains but were pulled into a surging drain. In Musheerabad, a youth identified as Sunny slipped near a drain and was carried away by the force of the water.
As news of the incidents spread, police, the Disaster Response Force (DRF), and the Hyderabad Disaster Response Agency (HYDRA) launched rescue operations using drones, ropes, and pumps. However, the swift currents hampered their efforts. Locals kept vigil through the night, desperately searching for missing family members. One resident, in tears, said, "We had demanded drain cleaning earlier, too, but nobody listened."
The tragedy has once again highlighted the city's longstanding problems of illegal constructions, clogged drains, and a weak drainage system. Areas like Habib Nagar, Asif Nagar, and Musheerabad face severe flooding every monsoon, often turning deadly.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has issued an alert urging residents to remain indoors. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has directed officials to speed up rescue efforts and provide immediate relief to the victims' families.
Meanwhile, the Meteorological Department has warned of more heavy rainfall on Monday.