Adilabad: Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka toured the flooded districts in North Telangana from Saturday midnight while he was travelling to Khammam from Ramagundam of the Peddapalli district.
Bhatti kept himself in constant touch with officials, giving them directions on relief measures for the flood-affected areas while he was travelling to Madhira from Ramagundam after attending a party programme. He cancelled his programme in Chennur assembly constituency after hearing about the heavy rains and floods in many districts and immediately rushed by road to Khammam Saturday night.
The Deputy Chief Minister personally oversaw the administration’s relief efforts for the people of low-lying areas in Madhira assembly constituency, visiting places through the night. The affected people from low-lying areas came out and started pouring their vows out before their leader.
The senior leader visited the rehabilitation centre arranged for the affected people at the 100-bed government hospital and inquired about the facilities there. Bhatti asked the electricity department to immediately restore power supply to the colonies hit by floods. The inhabitants were unable to come out in the dark as two transformers were inundated in the floodwaters in the power sub-station in Madhira town. This, by extension, affected the 11 feeders supplying power to rural areas.
Bhatti spoke to NPDCL CMD Varun Reddy and reviewed the situation. In a few hours, power supply was restored on a war footing to Madhira, Erruplem and Bokakallu mandals.
It was a surprise for many to see the Deputy CM reaching up to Vangaveedu village around 2am. A fisherman there, Venkateshwarlu, was caught in the currents of Buggavagu in Madhira. The deputy CM met family members of Venkateshwarlu and gave them hope.
Venkatesharlu met with a tragic situation when he entered the water to take out his fish net. Bhatti personally supervised the rescue operation of Venkateshwalru along with the police commissioner, even as it was raining heavily.
At the minister’s initiative, a drone was pressed into service to rescue Venkateshwarlu, but the efforts failed due to darkness. Finally, Venkateshwarlu was rescued with the help of professional swimmers.
Bhatti kept giving instructions to the officials while his staff held an umbrella over his head. He reached out to Vangaveeti village in Madhira via Karimnagar, Warangal, Thorrur and Khammam.
The Deputy CM visited a few places where streams and rivulets were overflowing, though his security staff advised him to avoid the risky places at night, but Bhatti energetically continued his relief efforts.
Bhatti got in touch with some Congress MLAs of north Telangana districts and enquired with them about the flood situation in their constituencies, after midnight. He asked them to coordinate with the district officials and ensure the safety of the people.
Mancherial MLA Premsagar Rao said he got a call from Bhatti around 12.30 am on Sunday, enquiring about the flood situation in the region.
