Heavy overnight rains wreaked havoc on parts of Hyderabad and its suburbs as water entered several residential areas and flooded roads, officials said.
The rains from Tuesday evening until early yesterday caused massive flooding in western and northern parts of Greater Hyderabad.
The situation was grim in some areas of Kukatpally, Miyapur, Nizampet, Qutbullapur, Moosapet, Begumpet, Alwal and other major residential and commercial suburbs of the city.
With storm water drains overflowing, water entered residential colonies in Nizampet, Balanagar and Alwal.
The parking areas in several commercial complexes were completely submerged while roads turned into rivers with 3 to 4ft of water.
People were confined to their apartments in some flooded areas like Bhandari Layout in Nizampet. Vendors were seen throwing drinking water and milk packets to those standing on the first floor.
Residents spent a sleepless night in low-lying areas as water entered their homes and damaged household articles.
Authorities declared a holiday for all schools in the affected areas. Officials said Qutubullapur area received 16.4cm rains while some other areas recorded 6 to 12cm rainfall.
As heavy rains inundated and further damaged the roads, there were traffic snarls in many key industrial, commercial and residential areas in almost all parts of Hyderabad.
The IT hubs of Madhapur and Gachibowli were also hit.
Employees of IT companies were caught in traffic jams on Raidurgam-Gachibowli, Miyapur-Kondapur and other roads leading towards Hitec City and IT corridor in Gachibowli.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Ranganath advised people not to come out of their homes unless necessary.
With huge inflows, the water level in Hussain Sagar lake in the heart of Hyderabad almost reached the full level.