Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao was briefed on the exact amount of damage due to heavy rains and flash floods, and announced a series of relief measures.
Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao today instructed the officials concerned to take up relief measures on a war footing for the people facing trouble due to heavy rains and flash floods.
The CM held a high-level review meeting at Pragathi Bhavan on Thursday on the situation. He reviewed the relief and rehabilitation measures taken so far, and gave instructions on the measures to be taken in the days to come.
As part of the meeting, the officials first explained to the CM the extent of the damage due to the rains and flash floods:
1. 50 people had died, 11 of them in Hyderabad.
2. Crops in 7.35 lakh acres were submerged. Even if 50% of the crops were damaged, the loss would be tune of Rs 2,000 crore.
3. For the first time after 1916, 31 cm of rain was recorded in one day in the GHMC limits. As a result of this several places were submerged under water, especially colonies which were constructed within the tanks's FTL limits. Since the waters entered the cellars of many apartment complexes, many people faced problems. 20,540 houses in 144 colonies at 72 places in the city were affected by the floodwaters. 35,000 families were affected, and the most impact was in the L B Nagar, Charminar, Secunderabad and Khairatabad zones.
4. In Hyderabad 14 houses were totally damaged, and 65 houses were damaged partially. GHMC and NDRF teams were executing the relief operations.
5. BT roads in 445 places and national highways in 6 places were damaged. Roads restoration was going on at all these places.
6. 72 rehabilitation centres had been opened in Hyderabad where temporary shelter was being given to people along with food. Daily meals were being served to 1.10 lakh people.
7. Outside of Hyderabad, the rains and foods adversely affected 30 towns. 238 colonies were flooded, and roads were damaged at 150 places.
8. Floodwaters entered 9 sub-stations under the Transco limits, 15 under the SPDCL limits and 2 under the NPDCL limits. Water was drained out at all the places on a war footing.
9. Wherever the water was drained out, power supply was restored. Power was also restored at places where trees and branches fell onto the lines. At several places especially on the banks of the Musi river transformers and electric poles were washed away. Primary estimates suggested that the electricity department had suffered a loss of Rs 5 crore.
10. 101 tanks were breached across the state and 26 tank bunds were damaged. It was estimated that the loss for the water resources department was Rs 50 crore.
After taking stock of the damage, announcing some instant relief measures, the CM said that rice, pulses and other essential food items, and three quilts per house, should be distributed in the submerged areas from the government's side.
He also announced Rs 5 lakh as compensation to the members of the family of each of the deceased, and an immediate financial assistance of Rs 5 crore to the GHMC for the relief works necessary.
For those whose houses were completely destroyed, new houses would be built by the government, and for those whose houses were partially damaged, financial assistance would be given for the repairs, he added.
He also said that for houses which were built on nalas (drains) and were washed away in the floodwaters, new houses would be built on government land.
The CM instructed that water should be drained out of the low-lying areas and the cellars of apartments on a war footing, and power supply restored. He suggested the use of HMWWSB and the fire services help to drain the waters out. He was however very particular that power supply should not be given if there was still water in any low-lying areas or in cellars as that would be dangerous. Even if it meant inconvenience for a day or two, power supply should be restored only after draining the water, he said, and urged people to cooperate in this matter.
The CM also instructed the electricity department officials to make plans to remove any high-tension cables over houses as such cables may prove to be dangerous.
The current situation showed that colonies built within the FTL limits were flooded, he said. Adequate measures should also have been taken when constructing apartment complexes to ensure that water did not stagnate in the cellars, he added, and instructed officials that henceforth while giving permissions to apartment complexes, measures should be put in place to prevent water stagnation in the cellars.
The CM declared that the as per the primary estimates, the state had suffered a Rs 5,000 crore loss due to the rains and flash floods. He urged the Centre to release Rs 1,350 Crore for relief measures immediately, and wrote a letter to PM Narendra Modi in this regard.