Hyderabad: The city witnessed heavy rainfall accompanied by strong winds and will continue until late afternoon.
Massive downpours were reported from Saroornagar, Dilsukhnagar, Malakpet, Nampally, Charminar, Koti, Abids, Ramanthapur, Mehdipatnam and Amberpet on Wednesday, May 21.
Earlier, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued a yellow alert for Hyderabad for the next three days. It forecasted a generally cloudy sky prevailing till May 22.
Weather advisory
The state government on Wednesday, May 21, issued a weather advisory, mentioning steps taken for the upcoming monsoon season, expected to arrive early this year, mostly by the last week of May. Many districts in Telangana will receive normal to above-normal rainfall due to their geographic and climatic conditions.
State ready for monsoons
Last year, Telangana received heavy downpours. This year, the state government has implemented the following measures to tackle very heavy rainfall or flood-like situations.
The state government has constituted 12 State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams with 100 trained professionals. These teams will be strategically located to reach any district suffering from rainfall within an hour.
Three National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) teams will be stationed in Hyderabad. Additional teams have been requested in case of floods.
To deal with fire accidents during monsoons, the state government has ensured all fire stations are equipped with flood-rescue equipment. Fire personnel have been trained and will be put into service in cases where the SDRF require additional forces.
Special HYDRAA (Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency) teams will be stationed in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) areas as well as urban local bodies in Rangareddy district.
District collectors issued flood management protocols
Protocols have been issued to all district collectors of Telangana in case of flood management during heavy monsoons.
All district collectors are advised to review all flood-prone areas in advance and take preventive measures.
In case of a flood situation, the concerned district collector should reach out to the SDRF unit assigned to their district.
The district collector should also contact the district fire officer (DFO) to mobilise the fire-based SDRF team.
In case of additional NDRF teams, the collector should contact the state disaster management department and not the NDRF.
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