Mahabubnagar: Corona, heavy rains make Independence Day fete low-key affair

Mahabubnagar: Fear of Covid-19 and heavy rains have made the 74th Independence Day celebrations a low-key affair across various government offices in erstwhile Mahabubnagar on Saturday.

Various government offices here witnessed the day concluding with just the hoisting of the national flag in the presence of a very few members.

In Jogulambad Gadwal district, MLC and Government Whip Damodar Reddy along with the District Collector Shruthi Ojha hoisted the flag on Saturday. ZP Chairman Saritha, Gadwal MLA Bandla Krishna Mohan Reddy and other senior police officials were also present at the programme.

In Wanaparthy district, the Agriculture Minister Singireddy Nirajan Reddy along with the District Collector Saikh Yashmin Basha hoisted the National Flag at collectorate premises. ZP Chairman Loknath Reddy and other local leaders also took part in the programme.

In Mahabubnagar district Excise and Prohibition Minister Srinivas Goud hoisted the flag in the District Collectorate premises and later extended greetings to the people of the district. Prior to the celebrations District Collector S Venkat Rao, garlanded the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi and paid tributes to the great leaders who sacrificed their lives for the sake of India's independence.

While speaking on the occasion, the excise minister recollected that because of various welfare and development programmes launched by the State government during the past six years, the face of entire erstwhile Mahabubnagar is changed.

He said that the district which was earlier reckoned for its negative tag of labour migration is now fast emerging as an agricultural hub and providing livelihood to not only the farmers, labourers but also the people from other states are instead migrating to Mahabubnagar for working in the factories and pharma companies.

However, the minister expressing concern over the rising cases of Covid-19 in the district asked people to face it bravely and urged them to follow all the safety measures. He also assured that the government had already set up a Covid-19 hospital with 210 ICU beds in the district and said that the government is there to protect the people in all the aspects.