Telangana State reels under floods

Hyderabad: With torrential rains lashing the State for the past two days, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has asked the administration to be in a state of high alert and directed the officials concerned to take all measures to safeguard the people. He asked the entire government machinery, including the District Collectors, to remain vigilant and take timely action to prevent any loss of lives and property. Following heavy downpour, several streams and rivulets are in spate. Orange alert has been issued for Adilabad district. Other affected districts have been given Yellow alert. Siricilla was the worst hit among north Telangana districts, which were lashed by heavy rains on Tuesday. Special teams equipped with boats have been deployed to rescue stranded people from the low-lying areas in the districts of Warangal, Karimnagar and Adilabad districts.

In Jagtial district, father and son duo was washed away in flood waters, according to reports reaching the state headquarters on Tuesday. Police said Gangamallu and his son Vishuvardhan were washed away when they were crossing a river on a two-wheeler at Mallannapet village.

Search was on to trace the bodies. In another incident, three shepherds were trapped in flood waters at Vamulaparthi village in Ibrahimpatnam mandal and the rescue operations were on.

In Siricilla town, water entered many commercial establishments on the main road. Cars and two-wheelers were seen floating in the flood waters. People struggled hard to save their vehicles in the heavy rains. Ganesh idols which were put for sale were washed away at the sale points in Sircilla town. The police force in the flood-hit Siricilla district, accompanied by the NDRF (National Disaster Response Force), was busy rescuing the stranded people in the marooned villages. Due to incessant rains, the police stopped vehicular movements in the district.

State IT minister KT Rama Rao, who is in charge of the district, instructed the officials to open relief camps for the people evacuated from the submerged villages. An under-construction bridge at Mulugu in Vemulawada mandal collapsed on Tuesday. It was the second time the bridge got damaged due to floods in the recent times.

Three students who were caught in the overflowing river were rescued at Pasarakonda village in Warangal district. As the roads were completely damaged and filled with flood waters, vehicular traffic was suspended between the districts.

Open cast mining in Mancherial was halted. Bodhan witnessed nonstop rain on Tuesday. Due to heavy rains in the catchment areas, Manjira and Godavari rivers were overflowing. As SRSP project is full to its capacity, all gates were lifted. In Kamareddy, a woman reportedly died in a house collapse incident.