Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) on Sunday claimed that there was a foreign hand behind the rain in the state and alleged that the cloudbursts are a conspiracy. The chief minister made the remarks while addressing a meeting after visiting the flood-affected areas in Badrachalam district.
The Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief said he has 'gloomy' information that there may be a suspected 'foreign hand' behind the cloudbursts in some parts of the country, including the Godavari river basin which is in spate in the state.
"A new thing called a cloud burst has come up. I don't know how far it is correct. Someone who have enmity are doing cloudburst in our country. In the past, they did it near Kashmir, at Leh Ladakh, then in Uttarakhand and now we are getting reports that they are doing it in the Godavari region." the chief minister said while addressing the meeting at Badrachalam.
"Whatever it is, due to the changes in weather conditions, we have to safeguard the people in such circumstances,"KCR said.
Telangana CM announced Rs 1,000 crore as a rehabilitation package for the temple town to build colonies in the highlands as a permanent solution to the flood threat. He undertook an aerial survey of areas affected by Godavari floods from Bhadrachalam to Eturunagaram and also examined the Godavari river in spate and the villages inundated by the floods.
CM Sri KCR addressed the media after visiting the flood-affected areas of #Bhadrachalam and interacting with people sheltered at the rehabilitation centre. pic.twitter.com/PTWRDX6C5G
— Telangana CMO (@TelanganaCMO) July 17, 2022
Later on, the CM undertook an aerial survey in Eturu Nagaram region in Mulugu district and also reviewed flood-relief measures there.
Telangana has been witnessing a flood-like situation due to heavy rainfall and has caused inundation in several areas. Heavy rains lashed Telangana for about seven days and has caused severe damage to agricultural crops.
OPPOSITION REACTS
Telangana BJP president and Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar reacted to KCR's comments and described it as the 'joke of the century', news agency PTI reported.
"In order to cover his failures, KCR was enacting dramas. KCR is trying to divert people's attention from the submergence of Kaleshwaram project and talked about a foreign conspiracy theory," the Telangana BJP chief said.
Meanwhile, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President Revanth Reddy also took a jibe at KCR and said that if KCR has information about the "foreign hand" behind the cloudburst then he should hand over the information to the Intelligence Bureau, RAW and also Central government.