Seven people were killed in two separate incidents of wall collapse as heavy rains lashed Hyderabad and its surrounding areas on Wednesday. While a family of four succumbed to injuries at Ramanthapur in Uppal, three members of another family died at Bholakpur in Musheerabad.
Victims at Bholapur were identified as Bilkis Begum (25), her two daughters Zeba (5) and Mariya (2) while the dead in Ramanthapur were Balaswamy, Chinnamma, Parvathy and Shekar.
Incessant rains battered the city throwing normal life out of gear. Low lying areas were totally inundated and in some places houses collapsed, roads were water-logged and several slums were inundated.
Commissioner of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) B. Janardhan Reddy instructed the officials to make arrangements to evacuate people staying in old and dilapidated buildings.
The lack of preparation by the GHMC came to fore as open drains, man holes and huge pot holes affected traffic movement adding to the misery of commuters.
However, farmers in these areas have heaved a sigh of relief as they believe that even a little rain would save their crops from total destruction.