Telangana govt steps up relief activities in flood-hit areas

Hyderabad: As flood receded, the residents of inundated areas in Bhadradri-Kothagudem and other districts in Telangana were on Tuesday faced with post-flood issues like damaged household items even as the state government stepped up sanitation and other relief measures.

The houses and essential items like food stuff were badly damaged in various flood-hit areas.

The state government has taken up sanitation measures, distribution of essential items like rice, oil and red gram and other relief activities in the flood-hit areas.

As per the directions of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar held a tele-conference on Tuesday with Collector of Bhadradri-Kothagudem district and other senior officials on the progress of relief and rehabilitation measures in the district, an official release said.

One senior officer is appointed to every mandal for supervising the relief activities and separate teams have been constituted with medical, electricity and sanitation wings in every village.

The release said 436 medical camps have been arranged in the district. No cases of dengue or malaria have been reported so far, it said.

Senior IAS officers are supervising all relief and rehabilitation activities in the district along with officials of Panchayat Raj and Health department, it said.

People appreciated the government's efforts on relief and rehabilitation activities, the release added.

State Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar said the water level in Godavari river at Bhadrachalam town, which was in spate due to incessant rains, has now started receding.

The state government continued to run relief camps for flood victims, he said.

"Earlier, Godavari flood flow used to have equal inflow and outflow. But this time the outflow was slow. As we mentioned earlier, Telangana will see an uncomfortable situation due to the Polavaram project work," Ajay Kumar said.

He felt that the outflow was slow this time as the Andhra Pradesh government finished fixing the gates of Polavaram project and also the water levels may have been retained in those seven mandals, which were transferred to the neighbouring state from Telangana in 2014.

There is a chance that once the Polavaram project is completed, water levels at Bhadrachalam will permanently remain 45.5 ft.

"So earlier also we demanded that the height of the Polavaram project has to be reduced," he recalled.

The Minister said Chief Minister Chandrashekar Rao assured them that he would send a team of experts to suggest the measures to be taken on a permanent basis to strengthen the bunds along the Godavari River so that the temple town is safeguarded.

According to him, about 25,000 people have been sent to relief centres before the floods which is the largest evacuation and rehabilitation programme the state has ever taken up.