Ignoring IMD’s advice, fans brave rains to support SRH

HEAVY rains lashed Hyderabad on Thursday afternoon with the highest recorded rainfall being over 51 mm as of 4 pm according to the Telangana State Development Planning Society (TSDPS). The downpour led to flooding in several parts of the city. Vehicles were seen crawling on the roads with the travel time increasing considerably.

- FIROZ MIRZA

The Director of Enforcement, Vigilance and Disaster Management of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation shared the weather update At 4 pm, the Indian Meteorological Department issued a moderate rain and thundershower alert for the GHMC limits. The IMD also advised people to monitor the weather before chalking out any plans for going out apart from predicting more rainfall for the evening and night. The predic tion by the IMD and GHMC's advice would have been enough to deter people from venturing out from their homes. But it seemed to have fallen on deaf ears as far as Sunrisers Hyderabad fans were concerned. They braved rains and traffic snarls and somehow made their way to the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium at Uppal in the city, skidding through the wet and muddy surroundings.

By 9:50 pm, around 20,000 fans were at the venue which boasts a capacity of around 40,000. In all, 33,871 ticket holders were in the stadium as those many tickets were scanned for entry. Rain affected the attendance as for the entirety of the season, every match at the venue recorded almost a full house.