Hyderabad Traffic

Time: 10.48 (Sep 03 2009) YSR feared dead

According to TV reports, Andhra CM YS Rajasekhara Reddy is dead after the chopper crashed on Rudrakonda hill.

Five Dead bodies available from incident ( accident ) location. [ Bell 430 helicopter ]

YSR (1949-2009)

Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy has died in an air crash, the Prime Minister’s Office said on

Thursday.

The bodies of 60-year-old Reddy, who led his Congress party to a spectacular second consecutive victory in the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, and his Special Secretary P Subramanyam, chief security officer A S C Wesley, pilot Group Captain S K Bhatia and co-pilot M S Reddy were found on Rudrakonda Hill, 40 nautical miles east of here, besides the mangled remains of the helicopter.

Highly placed Congress sources in Delhi said that the bodies have been found and an official statement is expected shortly.

The Union Cabinet is meeting to discuss the matter.

Andhra Pradesh finance minister K Rosaiah has been appointed caretaker CM.

The helicopter carrying YSR Reddy, two of his staff and two pilots went missing in pouring rain Wednesday morning over the Naxal and tiger-infested Nalamalla forests.

Nearly 24 hours after YSR’s chopper went missing, it was located atop Serai Salem hill, at a distance 40 nautical miles (70 kms) east of Kurnool.

The CM left Hyderabad on a six-seater Bell chopper at 8.35am for Chittoor accompanied by his secretary and chief security officer. After 9.27am, radio contact was lost with the helicopter.

Soon after the chopper lost contact, multiple agencies of the state launched a massive hunt for possible wreckage in the desolate terrain. By evening, it expanded into the country’s biggest-ever search operation with satellites in the sky joining remote sensing aircraft, fighter jets, unmanned aerial vehicles, troops on the ground and even barefoot deer-hunting tribals with bows and arrows.

Hyderabad
Aug. 17: When it rains, they say, it pours. And so it did on Monday, when the city recorded 11.23 cm rain, the highest so far this reason. There is more in the offing on Tuesday, Met officials said.
The rain brought the city to a standstill, leaving one person dead and almost all roads and low-lying areas waterlogged. Vehicles stalled on roads, setting off massive traffic jams, several areas suffered power cuts and trees were uprooted across the city.

One person died at Venkateswara Nagar Colony in Qutbullapur when he slipped into a drain that was covered by water. About half-a-dozen two wheelers got washed away near Rail Nilayam in Secunderabad. Tapovan Colony in Saroornagar, Madhavaram and surrounding colonies in Kukatpally got completely inundated. The GHMC considers only water standing at more than 6 inches in height and 50 metres in breadth as “stagnation.” It found only 20 such points in the city, while dozens of roads where slightly less water was standing were ignored.
The corporation sent out 20 teams comprising about 400 personnel to clear water logging, according to Mr Dhan Singh, the GHMC chief engineer. GHMC officials said that since this was the first heavy rain, not many low lying areas were affected.
Water Board officials formed emergency teams to clear the blocks on main roads to allow the rain water to flow out. “We are taking up diversion of water and our emergency teams have been formed with 10 people in each to clear the blocks,” said T. Krishna Babu, MD, Hyderabad Metro water supply and sewage board. The Police Control Room received an estimated 2,000 complaints between 6 pm and 9 pm, most of them on traffic snarls. The fire services call centre on 101 received several complaints too. Fire services officials sent seven fire engines to pump out water from residences but only two of them could reach the destinations.