With many districts in Telangana grappling with flash flood situation following heavy rain, the worst hit being Jayashanker Bhupalpally, Mulugu and Bhadradri Kothagudem, district administrations evacuated people using boats and helicopters as roads went underwater leaving vast areas marooned.
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao instructed state Education Minister Sabita Indra Reddy to declare a holiday for all educational institutions tomorrow in view of heavy rainfall in the state. The state administration has been repeatedly urging people to stay indoors as almost all water bodies in the state are overflowing and flooding nearby areas.
In view of the red alert from the MET Department in most districts of the state including Hyderabad educational institutions were closed yesterday and today and the state Education Department extended it till tomorrow.
Villagers of Maranchapalle village in the Jayashankar Bhupalpally district were shifted to safer areas through boats after they took shelter on their roofs as the entire area was submerged under water, leaving them marooned. Six more people trapped in Morancha stream in Nainpaka were rescued by army helicopters.
Two helicopters and six boats were pressed into service to rescue people. A portion of the bridge was washed away at Tekumatla in Bhupalpally. In Sircilla too locals from lying areas were being shifted.
Warangal is one of the most worst affected cities in the state with a large number of residential colonies inundated in Hanamkonda. The Kazipet railway station was also submerged under water along with the tracks between Hasanparthy and Kazipet leading to cancellation of several trains.
Water was also flowing over the national highway due to a breach in Rampur Lake in Hanamkonda. Kadam project in Adilabad too was in danger of overflowing while river Godavari was in full spate at Bhadrachalam.
Even in Hyderabad, a couple of exits of the Outer Ring Road were closed due to waterlogging. Rain water entered shops and houses in Tolichowki and Kukatpally in the city.
More gates of the two reservoirs Himayat Sagar and Osman Sagar have been lifted as Musi continued to swell almost touching the Chaderghat bridge. Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao visited a few spots like Hussain Sagar and Chaderghat to take stock of the situation. “Our main objective is to avoid loss of life and we are ensuring maximum efforts,” he said, adding that desilting and other efforts towards flood control has been effective in preventing flooding.
The intensity of the rains is likely to go down tomorrow and from Saturday the weather is likely to improve.
Congress president A Revanth Reddy has given a protest call in Hyderabad tomorrow demanding flood relief of Rs 10,000, but the BRS slammed the Opposition party for indulging in petty politics at the time of crisis.