Flood waters start receding in Andhra, Telangana; states step up relief measures

HYDERABAD: Flood waters in several parts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh started receding as the states have not witnessed any intense rain spells on Tuesday even as the respective state governments stepped up relief works in the affected areas.

Torrential downpours in both the states left 33 people dead (Telangana -16 and Andhra Pradesh - 17 ), battered roads and inundated rail track and submerged crops on thousands of acres of land. People struggled for their daily needs and rescue and rehabilitation efforts were on, official sources said.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his Telangana counterpart Revanth Reddy visited some inundated areas in their respective territories.

Reddy held a review meeting with ministers and officials at Mahabubabad district Collectorate after visiting flood-hit areas and asked officials across the state to prepare reports on encroachments on water bodies like lakes.

He asked them to prepare reports on the losses caused by the current spell of heavy rains and flood and to take measures to check the spread of diseases after flood water receded.

After visiting the flood-hit areas in Khammam and Mahabubabad districts for two days, Reddy returned to the state capital.

The Telangana government has already announced an ex-gratia of Rs five lakh to the kin of those who died in rain-related incidents.

The state government has written to the Centre urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit and see the damage caused by the heavy rains, he said.

The government has put the damage due to the downpour at over Rs 5,000 crore and sought immediate assistance of Rs 2,000 crore from the Centre, Reddy said.

Police personnel of Nalgonda and Nagarkurnool districts, in coordination with the Fire Department, rescued 10 Chenchu tribe members, including children of Dindi mandal, who were stranded in the flood waters of the Dindi river, a release from Telangana Police said.

In neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, CM Naidu directed all officials in the state to pull up their socks and work efficiently in extending relief and helping flood victims, following the unprecedented rainfall and floods, especially in Vijayawada.

State Finance Minister P Keshav said Vijayawada city is slowly receding while rescue and relief operations continue.

Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority managing director R Kurmanadh said about 60 to 70 colonies continue to be waterlogged out of 100 which suffered the fate.

In light of acute power shortage in some localities in Vijayawada, people were scrambling to charge their mobile phones at the railway station, among other difficulties.

Complaints were also trickling in about how some private boat operators are extorting money from hapless flood victims.

As many as 44,041 people were accommodated in the relief camps in the state.

Five choppers, two from the Navy and three from the Air Force, are dropping food items and airlifting people from marooned places.

South Central Railway in a social media post said restoration works are in full swing where breaches occurred due to heavy rains in the region.

A senior official of the SCR told PTI that as at 7 pm on Tuesday, 563 trains were cancelled and 185 had been diverted.

The official further said the restoration work of the tracks in the Division is expected to be completed by Wednesday evening if there are no obstacles.

Moved by the severe impact of the recent heavy rains and floods in Telangana, Governor Jishnu Dev Varma, has released Rs 30 lakh from his discretionary grants to the Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS), Telangana State Branch, to take up the

immediate relief activities through its district branches and to assist those affected by the disaster, a press communique from Raj Bhavan said on Tuesday.

Telangana government employees have also donated their one day basic pay totalling Rs 130 crore to the flood relief measures. A cheque in this regard was handed over to Telangana CM Revanth Reddy.

Tollywood actor and TDP MLA N Balakrishna announced a donation of Rs 50 lakh each to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Similarly, Telugu star Mahesh Babu in a post on 'X' said: "In light of the floods impacting both the Telugu states, I am pledging a donation of 50 lakh each to the CM Relief Fund for both AP and Telangana."

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department observed that a cyclonic circulation is lying over coastal Andhra Pradesh, Yanam and vicinity between 3.1 km and 5.8 km above mean sea level.

"A fresh low pressure area is likely to form over west - central and adjoining northwest Bay of Bengal around September 5," the Met Department added.