Rains play havoc in Telangana

Hyderabad: Incessant rains played havoc in the Telangana State. One person was washed away in Warangal district and the bridges were breached due to heavy floods in many districts in the State.

The IMD (Indian Meteorological Department) predicted heavy to very heavy rains due to the impact of cyclonic circulation over the Bay of Bengal for the next two days. The State Government sounded a red alert.

In Warangal district, Collector Rajeev Gandhi Hanumanthu directed authorities to be vigilant and be accessible to people in the wake of heavy rains across the district.

A call centre with toll-free number 1800-425-1115 to take complaints and requests related to rains has been set up. He ordered that none of the officers leave the headquarters without intimation and that the cell phones should not remain switched off.

In Nachinapally village of Warangal district, one Venkat Reddy slipped into the flooding river and was washed away. Vehicle movement was suspended between Husnabad- Siddipet as the lake breached at Gopalpet. The Warangal district authorities have started evacuating people stranded in the flooded low-lying areas. Reports said that two buses were caught in the flood waters at the underbridge in Kothagudem town. No casualties were reported in the incident. In Mondrai, Naresh, who was on a bike, got washed away. However, Naresh managed to swim to safety.

Due to heavy inflows into Godavari and Krishna, the water levels in the projects were reaching full reservoir level (FRL). Gates were lifted at the Singur project to discharge the heavy inflows.

Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar were brimming with heavy flows from the Musi river and the possibility of lifting all the gates is not ruled out. Water levels in the Srisailam project have reached 873 feet as against the FRL of 885 feet. Disaster management forces have been deployed to the rain-hit districts for rescue operations.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) appealed to people not to venture out of their houses till Tuesday morning. Continuous drizzle in many parts of the city has caused inconvenience to the commuters as the vehicle traffic is affected. In Kodandaram colony at Saroornagar, Malkajgiri and Safilguda, residents faced problems due to continuous rains. They also predicted heavy to very heavy rain on Tuesday.