Hyderabad: Heavy rains battered the State for the fourth consecutive day on Saturday, even as Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao kept the State administration on high alert.
With several SOS calls from different parts of the State, the authorities established two control rooms in Hyderabad to monitor the situation and also pressed two helicopters including a defence chopper into service for rescue and relief operations.
Under the influence of a well-marked low pressure over north coastal Odisha and adjoining areas along with an associated cyclonic circulation, extremely heavy rains occurred at some places across the State.
Nallabelly in Warangal Rural district reported the extremely high rainfall of 27 cm within 24 hours span, followed by Shayampet in the district with 23 cm.
Farmers stuck in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district rescued
A lorry driver got washed away in Peddavagu stream near Baswapur bridge in Koheda mandal of Siddipet district, when he tried to cross the stream. The helicopters were deployed to rescue him, but in vain. Similarly, 12 farmers who were stranded in the Chalivagu stream in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district, were rescued by an IAF helicopter following intervention of Minister KT Rama Rao.
Chief Minister Chandrashekhar Rao who took stock of the situation at Pragathi Bhavan here, directed all the Ministers to stay put in their respective districts and constantly monitor the situation along with the district collectors, the police and other officials.
The Chief Minister observed that due to the continuous rains, several streams and rivulets were in full spate across the State. In several districts, breaches to bunds of many water bodies were reported. Similarly, drainage canals were overflowing and water-logging continued on the roads in urban areas at many places. “Under the current conditions, there is a severe threat of inundation due to overflowing tanks and streams especially in the erstwhile districts of Warangal and Karimnagar where very heavy rains were reported,” he added.
As per the instructions of the Chief Minister, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar held a teleconference with the district collectors and made arrangements to tackle any eventuality arising out of incessant rains and flooding of low-lying areas in the State.
While the State Control Room (040-23450624) was activated immediately, the district collectorates were also asked to open round-the-clock control rooms respectively. The officials were instructed to alert their higher authorities in case of any submergence or inundation of low-lying areas.