HYDERABAD: Telangana on Monday put the Army and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) helicopters on standby anticipating more rains triggered by another low pressure as the flood toll rose to 70.
Municipal affairs and urban development minister KT Rama Rao said 33 people died in Hyderabad and the rest in districts. Now with the IMD saying that heavy rains are expected if another low pressure grows in strength, authorities in Telangana said they are gearing up for a bigger evacuation.
“Chances are high for further strengthening of the system to the next level. It’s too early to say if it would become a depression,” said S Stella, IMD director for Andhra Pradesh, while her Telangana counterpart K Nagaratna said Hyderabad and the state will get more showers.
Telangana is now procuring additional boats for evacuation as the IMD said the southwest monsoon may extend its stay till the last week of October.
With new weather systems forming over the Bay of Bengal pushing back the withdrawal of the southwest monsoon further, KTR said the government was gearing up to tackle another crisis.
“GHMC has 18 boats, our chief secretary Somesh Kumar spoke with the Andhra and Karnataka chief secretaries and they have promised us 15 boats each. The boats will reach the state by late evening. Overall 50 boats will be on standby,” said MAUD minister KTR.
“We also spoke to the Army, we alerted them and said that their services might be required at any moment. We spoke to NDRF and asked them to keep helicopters on standby,” he added, emphasising how after 104 years such a heavy downpour was witnessed in the city.
Pointing towards the IMD prediction for the next three days, the minister appealed to people, asking them to move to safer places.
“I appeal to the people staying in low-lying areas not to risk their lives. Please don’t be under any illusion that people on higher floors of the building are safe, though the structure might be fit. There are chances of electrocution,” said the minister pointing out towards an incident in Moosarambagh ward (Malakpet circle) where a person lost list life due to electrocution.
The Telangana government has already written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking Rs 1,350 crore immediate relief.
“We are expecting a positive response. Our chief secretary is in touch with the secretary, home affairs,” KTR added.
He also said that 80 special officers have been appointed to tackle floods in the state and thanked Tamil Nadu chief minister EK Palaniswami for expressing solidarity and announcing Rs 10 crore for Telangana flood relief.
Heavy rains swamped more new areas as Hafeez Baba Nagar, parts of Ramanthapur and Uppal got inundated on Monday. People were waiting for boats to rescue them and several people who headed to the Old City via Charderghat bridge were stuck in water for hours.
Residents in Bowenpally area of Secunderabad Cantonment are also having a harrowing time with many houses underwater and a nearby lake inundating the colony.