Eluru: Housing, Information and Public Relations Minister Kolusu Parthasarathy has instructed the officials to take security measures to deal with unseasonal rains. He asked them to set up relief and assistance centres and to take measures to prevent loss of life and property due to untimely rains in the district, especially in Nuzvid constituency. The district and mandal officials were told to work in coordination. ‘All the officials of Revenue, Police, Electricity, Medical, Agriculture, Irrigation, Panchayat Raj, R&B, should work in coordination and take preventive measures.’ The Minister advised the officials to ensure that there is no problem of power outage, drinking water, etc and instructed them to submit a complete report on the damage to horticulture and mango crops in Nuzvid constituency. They were also told to set up medical camps as required, to take complete security measures to prevent loss of property and life, to prevent road disruption immediately, and to be available to the people and take preventive measures.- Meanwhile, district Collector K Vetri Selvi has ordered the officials to take immediate steps to ensure that people do not face any inconvenience due to heavy rains. She directed the district officers of various departments, tahsildars, MPDOs and municipal commissioners through a teleconference on the steps to be taken in the wake of heavy rains that lashed Eluru district on Sunday morning. Speaking on the occasion, she said that due to heavy rains and strong winds, trees fell in many places and electricity poles have fallen, disrupting power supply. The officials should respond immediately on a war footing and remove trees with the help of JCBs and ensure that there is no hindrance to transportation. Similarly, they should repair power lines and restore power supply, should take steps to prevent ponds and canals from becoming clogged. They should review the situation with field staff from time to time and inspect dilapidated buildings and structures in villages and towns and take appropriate measures.

The Collector has ordered tahsildars and Municipal Commissioners to take steps to prevent collapse of advertising hoardings due to strong winds. They should provide tarpaulins to farmers so that grain does not get wet and to take steps to remove the fallen trees immediately without any problems to traffic due to fallen trees. They should set up medical camps wherever necessary and provide medical services to the people. If there is any loss of livestock anywhere due to heavy rains, they should submit a report immediately.

Collector Vetri Selvi ordered the officials to take steps to ensure that drinking water is not contaminated and to ensure complete sanitation.