Hyderabad: Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy on Thursday, October 30, instructed government officials to set up relief camps for the 2000 evacuees in Wsarangal district who were affected by floods caused by cyclone Montha. The CM will also conduct an aerial survey in the flood hit areas hit Warangal and Husnabad tomorrow.
At a meeting, the Telangana chief minister asked officials to also take up protective measures at all paddy procurement centers and warned strict action against officials who failed to save paddy stocks from floods caused by heavy rains which were brought on by cyclone Montha. He also ordered to stop vehicle movements on all flooded roads and bridges and also ordered HYDRAA teams to be deployed in the flood ravaged Warangal district.
“The CM stressed that relief operations should be intensified in Warangal and a toll-free help cell be set up in the Collectorate to monitor the situation round the clock . The help line should also be set up in the Command Control Center at the state level as well and arrangements should be made to respond immediately in case of rains, floods and disasters,” said a press release from the Telangana chief minister’s office.
During his survey, the CM will inspect the areas damaged by heavy rains and the crops withered in Warangal and other areas affected by cyclone Montha. “The CM was supposed to go on an aerial survey today but cancelled at the last minute as the officials warned inclement weather conditions which are not suitable to fly in the helicopter,” the release added.
At a meeting with government officials and cabinet ministers, preliminary enumeration said that huge flood damages were reported in the erstwhile Warangal and Nalgonda districts and also in Husnabad assembly constituency. “Expressing serious concern over the plight of the flood affected farmers during the crop harvesting, the CM said that the government set the target of 80 lakh metric tonnes of Paddy procurement and instructed the Civil Supplies department to take strict measures accordingly,” said the CM’s office.
In wake of reports that paddy has been soaked in many places and the farmers are worried about their paddy stocks washed away in some IKP centers, the Telangana chief minister instructed district collectors to make arrangements to immediately shift paddy from the IKP centers to the nearest godowns and mills. They were also ordered to store paddy in the nearest function halls where mills and godowns are not available and also to to appoint an in-charge officer for each procurement center.
Given the situation due to cyclone Montha, the CM said that Lleaves of all officials should also be cancelled and that every officer should conduct a field visit and is available to the public. He also said that all ministers should be available in their own districts and conduct periodical review on the measures taken to provide relief to the people in the flood ravaged districts.
“In view of the high impact of the cyclone in Warangal, the chief minister ordered the chief secretary and DGP to utilize the services of the police and, if necessary, deploy HYDRAA teams with necessary equipment from Hyderabad. Adequate number of boats should also be sent for immediate relief operations in Warangal and move the SDRF personnel available in various districts to the flood hit district,” the release added.
