Hyderabad: BRS Working President KT Rama Rao on Thursday slammed Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, accusing him of negligence in handling the severe flood situation in Telangana. He compared the Chief Minister to Emperor Nero and alleged that he was reviewing projects like the Musi River beautification and the Olympics while the state was drowning in floods.

The BRS leader, who toured flood-affected areas in the Kamareddy and Sircilla districts, demanded that the state government provide immediate relief to those who have lost everything. “While the state is in turmoil due to floods, the Chief Minister is holding review meetings on the Musi beautification project and Olympics,” KTR said, calling it a matter of shame. “Revanth Reddy is acting like Emperor Nero, who played the fiddle while Rome burned,” he alleged.

Rama Rao said that the state government failed to issue a timely alert to the public despite the Manair River receiving over one lakh cusecs of floodwater. He condemned this as a reckless disregard for people’s lives. He also alleged that the delay in rescue operations was caused by state-owned helicopters being used for the Congress’s election campaign in Bihar.

He contrasted this with the previous BRS government, under which former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao promptly deployed helicopters to rescue flood-affected people in the Mancherial and Bhupalapally districts.

KTR accused the current government of failing to anticipate the disaster and not making adequate preparations for the monsoon season. He urged the government to heed the latest weather warnings of more heavy rainfall over the next four days and take immediate action. He also demanded that the government provide compensation of Rs 25 lakh for each life lost, Rs 25,000 per acre for crop damage, and ‘Indiramma houses’ for those who have lost their residences. He praised government officials for their round-the-clock efforts to minimise loss of life and property despite the government’s apparent inaction. He appealed to the Central government to extend help to the state in this critical time