Emergency Meeting At Secretariat Over Incessant Rains In State

Upon directions from Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari today convened an emergency meeting at the Secretariat on the emergency measures to be taken in the wake of the incessant rains in the State.

Special Chief Secretaries Adhar Sinha, Rajat Kumar and Sunil Sharma, Revenue Principal Secretary Naveen Mittal, Singareni CMD Sridhar, Disaster Management Secretary Rahul Bojja, Agriculture Secretary Raghunandan Rao, Fire & Disaster Management DG Nagireddy, GAD Secretary Seshadri, GHMC Commissioner Ronald Rose, Information Department Special Commissioner Ashok Reddy and others participated in the meeting.

Speaking on the occasion, Santhi Kumari said that the Meteorological Department had said that there was a possibility of heavy rains in the State in the North Telangana districts including the combined Medak, Adilabad, Nizamabad and Karimnagar districts in the next 48 hours, and moderate rains in the southern Telangana districts. The higher officials of various departments and the Collectors of the respective districts had been ordered to therefore remain alert, she said.

NDRF teams had been stationed in Warangal, Mulugu and Kothagudem to help in case of any emergencies, and similarly a 40-member team was ready in Hyderabad, she said.

Kumari said that so far there had been no damage in the State. The ponds and lakes in the State had especially not been damaged, and the conditions of the roads in the rural areas were also fine, she said. She added that there were no problems of heavy floods in any of the projects in the State, as there were only 50% water reserves. However, adequate precautionary measures had been taken at all reservoirs and ponds, she said.

The Godavari was flowing at 41.3 feet at Bhadrachalam and there was a possibility of a danger index being issued tonight, Kumari added.

On a positive note, she said that the rains in the State were favourable for agriculture.

She also claimed that there had been no outbreak of any diarrheal disease or other diseases in the State in the last four years. However, as a precautionary measure, chlorination had been carried out on a large scale in the fresh water tanks of every village panchayat and municipality, she said.

GHMC Commissioner Ronald Rose said that 426 Monsoon Emergency Teams and 157 Static Teams had been set up in Greater Hyderabad, and that special personnel had been set up at 339 water-logging-prone points in the city. He also said that the water reserves in 185 ponds and lakes of the city were being reviewed from time to time.