The heavy downpour on Friday that dumped 15 centimetres of rain in parts of Hyderabad also left behind tonnes of sand on the roads in its wake. Motorists, especially two-wheeler riders, had a tough time balancing their vehicles the following morning as Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation workers raced to remove the heaps of sand from the roads.
At Toli Chowki, Shaikpet Nala, Jyothi Nagar, Filmnagar, Banjara Hills Road no. 10, Khairatabad, Gudimalkapur, Nampally and many other areas of the city, civic workers and contractors had to deal with piles of sand in the daytime.
Areas of the city which reported water inundation on Friday evening were the worst-affected. “Kindly send your team to Toli Chowki Main Road,Meraj Colony,Galaxy Theatre,Nadeem Colony. Please also send at Ahmad Nagar Road and Habib Nagar,” Hyderabad Member of Parliament Asaduddin Owaisi tweeted on Friday evening. These areas had piles of sand after the water was drained.
“This is the third vehicle we are using for moving the sand,” said a worker filling up a small cargo vehicle near Shaikpet Nala. Even after moving a large quantity of sand, the road remained dangerously slippery.
At Khairatabad, a photo blogger captured three GHMC sanitation workers using small hand tools to push the sand into piles. “GHMC staff at work -They need better tools,” wrote Sanjay Borra about the workers.
By evening, though the sand was removed, commuters had to deal with dry dust particles floating in the air.
