Telangana flood fury: 8 dead, 100 rescued; 19000 shifted to safer locations

Hyderabad: Eight persons were swept away in the flood waters of a rivulet in Mulugu district following heavy rains, even as relief operations continued at several places in the state.

Telangana DGP Anjani Kumar said with the help of respective district administrations, around 19,000 people have been shifted to safer places in many districts.

In Mulugu district, 12 members of a remote village were swept away in flood waters when they were moving towards a safer place, but four of them managed to save themselves, police said.

The bodies of the eight persons who went missing were found on Friday.

Around 60 people in the habitation, which was cut off from other places due to the collapse of a bridge on the rivulet, stood on the top of a Gram Panchayat building and were clinging on with the hope of getting rescued, they said. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel, who could not reach the habitation on Thursday due to the force of flood waters in the rivulet, rescued the stranded people on Friday.

About 80-100 people including those who required medical help were rescued including in boats, police said. Food packets were provided to some who took shelter at the high ground in the district by choppers and boats.

About 3,500 people have been evacuated from areas situated on the banks of Godavari river in the district as a precautionary measure, police said.

The heavy rains lashing Telangana during the last several days led to the inundation of low-lying areas and damage to roads at many places in the state.

Panchayat Raj Minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao visited the rain-hit areas in Warangal on Friday.

Observing that rains caused extensive damage in the undivided Warangal district, he said officials and the relief personnel should continue their efforts till normalcy is restored.

In the temple town of Bhadrachalam, the water level in Godavari river stood at 54.40 feet at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

Chief Secretary A Santhi Kumari directed the district collectors to take effective measures to prevent the spread of infectious diseases in flood-affected areas as the heavy rains that lashed the state for the past few days have started subsiding.

Chief Secretary, who held a teleconference with district collectors, appreciated that loss of life and property has been reduced so far due to the collective efforts of the district administrative machinery and police officers, an official release said.

She said similar relief measures should be carried out for another 24 hours. As the flood caused by the rains receded, the collectors were told to carry out sanitation measures vigorously to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.

Proper care should be taken in providing adequate food and fresh water to the victims of downpours and flooding who are already staying in the relief camps, she said.

Out of 10 NDRF teams, two teams are in Bhadrachalam and Nirmal, while one team each is stationed in Kothagudem, Mulugu, Warangal, Khammam, Bhupalapally and Hyderabad.

DGP Kumar, who attended the teleconference, also said special control rooms have been set up in several districts with senior police officers deputed to monitor the situation.

Indian Meteorological Department forecast that light to moderate rain or thundershowers are very likely to occur at a few places over Telangana on July 29.

Inputs from PTI