Hyderabad: With the monsoon season approaching, Telangana put its disaster preparedness machinery on full display on Monday, May 18, as the state conducted large-scale mock exercises across multiple locations, simulating floods, forest fires, and industrial accidents to test the readiness of emergency response teams.
State Revenue, Housing, and Information and Public Relations Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy inspected a major flood mock drill held at the HMDA grounds on Necklace Road in Hyderabad, accompanied by senior officials from several departments. He later visited the Necklace Road Boating Club to review rescue activities on water.
Golden hour actions can save lives, says Minister
Speaking at the event, the minister underscored that protecting the lives and property of citizens is the government’s foremost duty. He stressed that the first hour following any disaster is the most critical window, and that actions taken during that golden hour can mean the difference between life and death.
The minister drew on lessons from history, referencing the catastrophic Hyderabad flood of 1908 and the more recent Godavari-Krishna floods, to highlight what can go wrong when disaster preparedness is inadequate. He expressed concern over the growing frequency of fire accidents in urban areas and the destruction caused by forest fires, calling for constant vigilance and modern infrastructure to tackle these threats.
Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy said that Telangana is studying disaster response systems adopted across the world to build a stronger and more efficient state-level mechanism. He urged media organisations and social media users to share only verified and responsible information during emergencies, to prevent unnecessary panic among the public.
During the drill, specialised teams demonstrated inflatable lifeboats, water rescue techniques for those trapped in floods, emergency evacuation procedures, and coordinated multi-agency operations. The exercises were designed to stress-test inter-departmental coordination and response times in realistic scenarios.
The minister commended the performance of the National Disaster Response Force, the State Disaster Response Force, the Disaster Management Department, and district-level officials for conducting drills on such a large scale. He reassured citizens that there was no cause for alarm, clarifying that these were planned preparedness exercises and not responses to any actual emergency.
