Telangana rains: IMD maintains red alert amid heavy showers; low-intensity earthquake hits state

Telangana on Thursday continues to be battered by intense rainfall, as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has maintained its red alert for "heavy to very heavy rainfall" in various districts across the state.

Districts that have received a red alert advisory are Sangareddy, Medak, Bhupalpally, Mulugu, Khammam, Suryapet, Medchal, Malkajgiri, and Vikarabad. Hyderabad, however, has been issued with an orange alert. 

A 3.1 magnitude earthquake was also detected amid the heavy rainfall in various parts of Vikarabad in the early hours of the morning. No damage has been reported so far.

Across northern Telangana, infrastructure crumbled under the downpour—roads, culverts, and bridges collapsed or were washed away as rivers and streams overflowed—leaving people in remote areas stranded, as per a Times of India report.

Beemini, Mancherial—which is one of the hardest-hit regions this monsoon season—and Tandur (within the same district) have seen record-breaking 24-hour rainfall exceeding 20cm, further straining irrigation and disaster-management systems.

A number of people located in low-lying areas such as Yakutpura, Lalithabagh, Afzalsagar, Ghousenagar, and Shaheennagar, have complained of water entering their homes, as per a Telangana Today report.

At Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, flight operations were severely disrupted by inclement weather on Wednesday: eight departure flights (to Patna, Ahmedabad, Kochi, and Chennai) and four inbound flights were cancelled, while 11 flights were also diverted to alternate airports.

State authorities are on high alert,as irrigation officials continue to monitor reservoir levels, while disaster-response teams have been deployed in vulnerable zones.

India