Heavy overnight rains wreaked havoc in parts of Hyderabad and its suburbs as water entered some residential areas and flooded roads, officials said.

The rains from Tuesday evening to the early hours of Wednesday caused massive flooding in parts of 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 lots in several commercial complexes had completely submerged while roads turned into rivers with three to four feet water.

People were confined to apartments in some flooded areas like Bhandari Layout in Nizampet. Vendors were seen throwing drinking water and milk packets to those standing on first floor.

Residents spent a sleepless night in low-lying areas as water entered their houses and damaged household articles.

Authorities declared a holiday for all schools in the affected areas. Officials said Qutubullapur area received 16.4 cm rainfall while some other areas recorded 6 to 12 cm 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 the city. 

The IT hubs of Madhapur and Gachibowli were also hit.

Employees of the 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 houses unless necessary.

With huge inflows, the water level in Hussain Sagar lake in the heart of the city almost reached the full level. The level stood at 513.4 feet on Wednesday against the full tank level of 513.7 feet.

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) commissioner Janardhan Reddy said Hussain Sagar was receiving 5,000 cusecs feet of water. 

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who is in Delhi, reviewed the situation with officials.