Cyclone Michaung: Telangana govt alerts district Collectors

Hyderabad: The Telangana government on Tuesday directed the Collectors of districts where heavy rain is forecast due to severe cyclonic storm Michaung to be on alert and send a team of NDRF each to two districts.

State Disaster Management department Secretary Rahul Bojja held a tele-conference with the Collectors of the districts which are expected to receive heavy rain.

He asked them to be alert in view of the forecast of heavy rains on December 5 and 6 and to take measures as per the stipulated protocols, an official release said.

A team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) would be sent to the Bhadradri-Kothagudem and Mulugu districts each.

The senior official urged the Collectors to take steps to ensure that water tanks which are already full with water do not breach.

Appropriate precautionary measures must be taken at low-lying areas and causeways in view of the possibility of heavy flow of water.

He also directed that the irrigation, disaster management, roads and buildings, panchayati raj departments to be alert.

The Met Centre of IMD here said heavy to very heavy with extremely heavy rain is very likely to occur at isolated places in Mulugu, Bhadradri-Kothagudem and Khammam districts of Telangana from 1300 hours on December 5 to 0830 hours on December 6.

It also said heavy to very heavy rain is very likely to occur at isolated places in various districts, including Suryapet, Mahabubabad and Warangal, during the same period.

In the wake of the Meteorological Department's announcement that heavy rains will fall in the next 48 hours, the authorities should take appropriate measures to avoid any loss of life as the ponds and streams are likely to overflow.

In addition to identifying the low-lying areas and alerting the people there, appropriate pre-emptive measures should also be taken for rehabilitation.

Congesss Madhira MLA Batti Vikramarka asked people living in the damaged houses to move them to safe places.

The District Collectors of Khammam and Kottagudem Bhadrachalam have been instructed to take appropriate measures to avoid any inconvenience to the people due to the incessant rains in the entire Khammam district since morning due to the impact of the typhoon.

"The bureaucracy should be prepared to provide relief measures on a war footing. If necessary

Increase the number of NDRF teams. People should not come out unless it is urgent because of the typhoon effect," said the MLA.