12 People Killed as Heavy Rain Batters Telangana

Hyderabad: At least 12 people in different parts of Telangana died on Sunday as torrential rain battered the entire state. Almost all districts reported waterlogging of roads, inundation of low-lying colonies and villages, farms getting washed out, and water bodies and reservoirs brimming with floodwater. Life was thrown out of gear in the entire state especially in Hyderabad, Khammam, Mahbubabad and Warangal, Adilabad districts, which were badly-hit by the incessant rain caused by the depression in the Bay of Bengal.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called up Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and enquired about the flood situation in the state. The Prime Minister appreciated the state government machinery for acting swiftly and extending the relief and rehabilitation measures and assured to send all-weather helicopters for relief work. Union home minister Amit Shah also spoke to the Chief Minister and assured to send flood relief materials to the state.

As the state braced for heavy rain for the next 24 hours, the government declared a holiday for all educational institutions on Monday across the state and postponed all exams scheduled on Monday.

According to Chief Secretary A. Shanti Kumari, there have been breaches to 85 tanks, ponds and canals. NDRF, SDRF teams have been deployed in the severely-flood affected areas from Hyderabad and a control room has been established in the secretariat for the purpose.

Director-General of Police Dr Jitender said 26 platoons of rescue teams have been kept on standby. Food and water have been supplied to the railway passengers who were stranded in Mahabubabad.

Vehicles heading towards Vijayawada from Hyderabad on the National Highway 65 were diverted to Nalgonda, Miryalaguda and Guntur as floodwater inundated the highway at Jaggayyapet. Similarly, vehicles going to Khammam from Hyderabad were diverted through Nakrekal, Arvepally and Marripeda bunglow.

The road to Srisailam has been temporarily closed after landslides were reported from multiple locations on the road between Eegalapenta and Srisailam. Police have also set up a checkpoint at the locality to prevent the vehicle movement as precautionary measures.

Waterlogging was reported over railway tracks at several locations, forcing the South Central Railway (SCR) to cancel and divert a number of trains in the state. A railway track was washed away on the outskirts of Tallapoosapally village in Kesamudram mandal In Mahbubabad district, halting train services in the region. The train services were also badly affected on the Vijayawada-Warangal route and Vijayawada-Khammam routes.

Officials have been instructed to take all measures to prevent any untoward incidents and shift people from the low-lying areas to the relief camps immediately.

In Hyderabad, officials opened sluice gates of the Hussainsagar to release the water. Though Lower Tank Bund, Gandhinagar, Ashoknagar, Chikkadpally and parts of Himayatnagar lie downstream, the newly-constructed retaining wall stopped the flooding into the low-lying areas.

The Left Canal of the Nagarjunasagar dam developed a breach due to the release of water at Ramachandrapuram, under Nadigudem Mandal in Suryapet. The water from the canal damaged the crop in hundreds of acres in the nearby villages. The Nagarjunasagar project officials stopped the release of water after the breach.

The entire Nallela village in Kuravi mandal of Mahbubabad district got submerged in flood water. The police from Kuravi police station rescued the people trapped on the rooftops of submerged houses. The police and revenue staff have rescued around 90 people from 18 families in the village.

Nagarkurnool superintendent of police warned of landslides in Domalapenta area and asked people to put off their travel plans to Srisailam until the rain subsides.

In the Mancherial district, flood water cut off road connectivity to five villages and washed off a road at Nakkalapalli in Kotapally mandal. Devotees faced tough times in temple town Basar in Nirmal district as the flood waters reached near the temple premises.

According to reports of the 12 who got washed away, seven drowned in two separate incidents at Theerdhala of Khammam rural mandal and Nayakangudem of Kusumanchi mandal. While three persons died as two cars got washed away in Nalgonda district, two people were feared dead in Mahbubabad in floodwater.