If it was intense heat wave forcing people indoors till Tuesday, it was the turn of heavy thundershowers to cause the hardship to the denizens of Hyderabad.
Heavy rain accompanied by gale lashed the city on Wednesday afternoon creating massive traffic jams on the major roads of Hyderabad. The powerful winds also uprooted trees and hoardings creating obstacles for the traffic at many places. The people returning from offices had to face a lot of difficulties as the rainwater had turned the city into cesspool.
Many areas of the city plunged into darkness as power supply was also disturbed due to the rain and winds. The rain, however, brought tremendous relief to the people reeling under the impact of sweltering heat for the last few weeks. The sky was overcast and the weather office has predicted more rain over next 48 hours in Hyderabad as well other parts of the State. Meanwhile, depression in the Bay of Bengal is 200 km east of Kolkata and was likely to cross Bangladesh coast, the weather office bulletin said.
There will be gale of 45 to 50 km per hour off and along the coast, the weatherman said. The State received isolated rain over coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana regions over the last 24 hours. Maximum six cm of rainfall was recorded at Devarkonda in Nalgonda district, five cm in Utukuru in Kadapa district.
After some respite on Tuesday, the day temperatures again increased in some places over coastal belt and Telangana. The maximum temperature of 43 degrees Celsius was recorded in Ramagundam (Karimnagar district) and Kadapa.
The Meteorological Department in Hyderabad and Cyclone Warning Centre at Visakhapatanam have forecast light to moderate rains or thundershowers at a few places over coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema over next 48 hours.
Meanwhile, there was also good news on monsoon front. The Meteorological Department said that monsoon was making good progress and it was likely to cross the Kerala coast within three days. Monsoon will cover some more parts of the Arabian Sea, Maldives and the Bay of Bengal over the next 48 hours, it said.