Heavy rain claims 1 in city

HYDERABAD: One person was killed, several trees uprooted and many advertising hoardings came crashing down even as power lines were snapped at some places as parts of the city were lashed with heavy rain, hailstorm and gale on Sunday. The rain also led to snapping of power supply in many parts of the city and till late in the night several areas were without electricity.A 35-year-old woman, Bhagyamma, was swept away in a nala next to her hut on Road No. 13 in Banjara Hills after she slipped and fell in the storm water channel during the heavy rain. Her body was recovered nearly half a kilometre away from the nala. Thirty stalls put up at Necklace Road as part of an exhibition collapsed due to the rain. Several advertisement hoardings came crashing down due to the gale. However, there were no reports of anyone being hurt by the falling hoardings. Power supply was disrupted in several parts of Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills as well as in parts of the Old City and Secunderabad. The most affected areas were Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills. At least 100 trees have been uprooted and their branches fell on the power lines. These areas have a lot of trees, a senior official of the Central Power Distribution Company Limited said. C V V Bhadram, director of the meteorological department, said Sunday's rain and hailstorm as well as the gale, was due to the influence of an upper air circulation over Telangana. The city recorded 22.8 mm of rain up to 8.30 pm, while the Hakimpet Air Force Station recorded 14 mm of rain and Ramagundam recorded light rain. The wind speed recorded was 60 to 65 km per hour which is classified as gale. It is usual to have thunderstorms, gale and even hailstorms in summers, Bhadram told The Times of India. The high temperatures prevailing over the last two or three days resulted in the rain in the city on Sunday. However, the conditions may not persist over the next 48 hours and there may be only localised, light showers on Monday, Bhadram said.