Stay home, stay safe: CM KCR

Hyderabad: In view of heavy rains, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao appealed to people not to venture out of their houses. All the Ministers, MLAs and people's representatives have been asked to cancel their official programmes and stay in their local areas for rescue operations.

The CM also cancelled a high-level meeting organized on Revenue related issues on July 11(Monday). The proposed 'Revenue Sadassulu' in all mandal headquarters, which is to be launched from July 15, was also cancelled. KCR instructed Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar to alert all the departments concerned and take quick safety measures in the wake of incessant rains. He asked the Chief Secretary to hold video conferences with District Collectors and alert NDRF and Rescue teams in the flood-prone areas.

Following the Red Alert in Telangana and in Maharashtra, the CM said that he will also review the situation from time to time and also hold video conferences.

The Chief Minister urged people to stop taking any risks during heavy rains unless there is an emergency and take self-precautions. KCR also alerted State Irrigation officials and instructed them to take necessary steps amid reports that the reservoirs and projects were receiving heavy inflows.

State Forest and Environment Minister A Indrakaran Reddy and State Roads and Building Minister V Prashanth Reddy rushed to their native districts of Adilabad and Nizamabad and visited the flood-affected villages and towns. They were closely monitoring rescue operations in their heavy rain hit districts.

Reports said that the Jurala and Srisailam projects under River Krishna were receiving heavy inflows as the upper riparian state of Karnataka was witnessing heavy rains for two days. Officials said that the Chief Minister deferred "Revenue Awareness Programme" with Ministers, MLAs and Collectors organized on Monday. He said the proposed statewide 'Revenue Sadassulu' from July 15 was also postponed. New schedule for the conduct of two programmes will be announced after normal weather conditions are restored in the state, officials said.