CS Lines Up Actions to Deal With Rains, Calamities

Hyderabad: The state government has taken measures on a war footing to tackle emergency situations during monsoon.

Chief Secretary A. Santhi Kumari, after a high-level meeting on Tuesday, said services of the GHMC Disaster Response Force (DRF) will be extended up to Outer Ring Road (ORR) to effectively deal with the damage caused by heavy rain and possible calamities.

The meeting was attended by MA&UD principal secretary M.Dana Kishore, GHMC in-charge commissioner Amrapali Kata, and Prakash Reddy, director of the corporation’s EV&DM, among others.

The Chief Secretary said the Disaster Response Force is being strengthened by additional staff and appropriate machinery to deal with disasters.

While at present 30 DRF teams work under the jurisdiction of GHMC, five more teams will be added and their services will be extended to the ORR. As there are a large number of pharma companies in Hyderabad, it was suggested that teams with special training for chemical fire prevention should be formed.

Santhi Kumari said that Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has issued instructions to set up a robust system to prevent any trouble for people in case of sudden rain and floods up to the Outer Ring Road.

She directed GHMC officials to take measures in coordination with relevant departments such as police, electricity and water board and see that people are not put to any hardships. Apart from Hyderabad, DRF teams should also be formed in Warangal, Karimnagar, Khammam and other cities and the existing DRF teams should be strengthened, she said.

Officials were advised to work in coordination with the NDRF during calamities. She also asked officials to study the performance of disaster response teams in major cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bengaluru.