Telangana governor calls upon government bodies, NGOs to help flood victims

Hyderabad: Saddendend by the destruction created by recent torrential rainfall and flooding in Telangana, on Tuesday, Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan, governor of Telangana, appealed to all government and non-governmental organisations to extend all possible support to the families affected by the floods across all districts.

“I am deeply pained by the sorrow and agony that people are facing due to the havoc created by the cloud burst and unprecedented rains,” she said. “These are testing times for the state, especially for the 10 districts of North Telangana and parts of Central Telangana surrounding Hyderabad, which are badly affected by the devastating floods,” she said and added that this year’s exceptionally heavy monsoon rains have affected more than 10 million people and left many families homeless.

“The situation is more serious than expected. I have appealed to the Indian Red Cross Society of Telangana State, the central offices and district branches in the affected districts to reach out to the affected families and provide immediate support. They have been providing humanitarian assistance to the flood victims by joining hands with the district administrations,” she said.

“Individual philanthropists, NGOs, Lions Club International, Rotary Club International, the UNDP, the UNICEF, Corporate Social Responsibility foundations, doctors fraternity and the media should come together to help those affected by the floods,” she said.

Rehabilitation plans

She said that an initial plan of action has been developed to provide food, shelter materials, kitchen utensils, water purification chemicals and health camps to the affected families and conduct rapid assessments to arrive at rough estimates of damage.

Saying that the present help might not be enough to help the families, the governor asked the government to open more relief centres in schools and public buildings.

She directed the government to provide immediate relief by starting shelter homes, emergency kitchens for supplying food and water and emergency medical teams for conducting health camps. She directed the municipal administration and Panchayat Raj department to provide water and sanitation facilities and clear the debris in the villages.

Rescue operations

“I appeal to the NDRF teams to speed up rescue operations of the people stranded in floods by deploying more number of teams,” she said and added that protection centres have to be established for the children, adolescent girls, women and the elderly.

She asked the teams to constantly review and update rehabilitation and resettlement plans to get a systematic assessment of the loss of lives, houses, properties, and damage to agriculture and livelihoods.

“The long-term rehabilitation plans should include compensation for loss of lives and injuries, and provisions for supplying basic needs such as kitchen items, clothes, cosmetics, medicine, restoration of books and other study material for students. The reconstruction of permanent housing and other infrastructure is also an essential part of long-term plan of resettlement,” she said.