On Your Toes, Uttam Tells Irrigation Officials, All Leaves Cancelled

Hyderabad: Irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Saturday declared that all leaves in the department stand cancelled in the wake of widespread rains across Telangana and called on irrigation officials and engineers to be on the alert and be ready and prepared to meet any eventuality.

The minister directed officials to continuously monitor rainfall, inflows into tanks, lakes, and reservoirs and take up inspections of bunds, dams, and canals to ensure there are no problems at any of these structures. “In places where officials anticipate possible problems, proactive steps must be taken and officials and staff must be geared up to respond quickly to attend to any problem,” Uttam Kumar Reddy said.

The minister’s call to action comes in the wake of the India Meteorological Department issuing a red alert to nearly half the state and placing the rest of Telangana on an orange alert watch indicating heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in many parts of the state over the next two days.

Uttam Kumar Reddy called on officials to keep a particularly sharp watch on water bodies next to which railway lines pass by to ensure track safety.