Hyderabad: In the wake of heavy rains in some parts of the state, Chief Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao took stock of the situation arising in the districts and discussed the issue of paddy procurement and agricultural operations as part of the pre-monsoon action plan during the teleconference.

Revenue (Disaster Management) Special Chief Secretary Arvind Kumar informed the Collectors about the weather conditions in the State in view of the low pressure in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal which is going to cause heavy rainfall over the next three days. He also cautioned that moderate to heavy rains are expected in all the districts of the State during the next ten days.

On paddy procurement, the Chief Secretary asked the Collectors to strictly follow the standard operating procedures to minimise damage to paddy in case of unexpected rains. The Collectors were told to take all precautionary measures to ensure that paddy procurement is not affected due to unseasonal rain.

Pointing out that the early rains is resulting in the stepping up of preparatory agriculture activities by the farmers, CS informed the Collectors that adequate quantities of DAP, seeds are available in the State. He directed the Collectors to conduct the task force meetings on curtailing the menace of spurious cotton seeds immediately and said a strong message should be sent across that action will be taken against those indulging in supply and sale of spurious seeds. The Collectors were told to conduct press meet along with district in-charge minister and inform the public about the measures taken by the administration and precautions to be taken in view of the heavy rains. He directed the GHMC officials to take steps to ensure that the manholes and open nalas are covered. He stated that free flow of traffic should not be affected due to water logging during rains.

DG Fire Services Nagi Reddy informed that training to all the fire officers is being given to prevent any loss of life. Special teams have been deployed across the Krishna and Godavari Rivers which were previously affected by floods.