Congress Blames KTR For Deaths In Hyderabad Rains

Expressing grief over the loss of seven lives in the heavy rains that lashed the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad on Wednesday, the Telangana Congress held Urban Development Minister K T Rama Rao responsible for the tragedy.

Accompanied by senior Congress leaders, Leader Of Opposition in the Telangana State Legislative Council Mohammad Ali Shabbir visited the victims of the deluge in Bholakpur of Musheerabad and offered condolences.

Speaking to the media later, Shabbir Ali alleged that the urban development minister had failed at his job.

"The water logging, the submergence of low-lying areas and the collapse of the dilapidated structures clearly exposes the failure of the GHMC and the minister in planning the city's infrastructure. The minister has been making tall claims of turning Hyderabad into a global city. But that has proven to be just hot air. The citizens of Hyderabad have suffered due to the negligence of the GHMC, which doesn't even have a 'monsoon emergency plan'," he claimed, and demanded stern action against the officials who had failed to mark dilapidated buildings in the Ramanthapur and Bholapur areas.

The Congress leader alleged that several complaints of water logging, power failure and traffic jams had been lodged with the GHMC only to be ignored by the officials, and also called out the cabinet minister on "failing" to fulfill his GHMC election promises.

"What happened to the '100-day action plan', which the minister announced after his Party won the GHMC elections in February? There were no emergency teams or special squads when houses were getting submerged in the rains. The situation would have been different had the GHMC responded on time, with a disaster management team at its disposal. Despite the meteorological department's forecast, the State government couldn't handle the situation," Shabbir Ali said.

He said that the government should have evacuated people living in low-lying areas to higher places as soon as it received the forceast.

He also said that the State government should assess the damages carefully and pay adequate compensation.

"The government should increase the ex-gratia amount from Rs. 4 lakhs to Rs. 10 lakhs, as the current amount is just insufficient to restart livelihoods," he demanded.

He expressed hope that such incidents would be avoided in the future through better disaster management techniques, development of infrastructure and use of technology. He also appealed to the Congress members in the GHMC limits to help the people who were affected due to the downpour.

Former GHMC Corporators Wajid Hussain and Mohammed Ghouse, GHCC Minorities Department Chairman Shaik Abdullah Sohail, TPCC Spokesperson Syed Nizamuddin and other leaders were also present.