Telangana CM KCR announces Rs 5 lakh ex-gratia to flood victims, death toll mounts to 50

Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Thursday announced ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the family of persons who died in rain-related incidents.  He also instructed officials to provide relief on warfare to people affected by rain and floods, and asked them to distribute rice, legumes and other essential items to each household in addition to three blankets on behalf of the state government.

The Telangana government on Thursday declared that heavy rains and flash floods that ravaged different parts of the state since Tuesday resulted in the death of 50 people and left a trail of destruction that is estimated to have caused a loss of Rs 5,000 crore to properties and crops.

The CM also released R5 million to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to expedite emergency relief operations.

CM KCR took stock of the ongoing emergency relief measures during a high-level review meeting in Pragathi Bhavan.  He issued specific directions to be implemented in the GHMC, taking into account the impact of the rains on the city.

He assured the people that new homes would be given to those whose homes collapsed during the flood, and that the government would



undertake free repairs to partially damaged homes.  He made it clear that the new houses will be built on alternative sites for those whose houses were built on drains (nalas) in the city.  He instructed the officers to pump out water from low-lying areas and basements of apartment complexes and warned them not to restore power until the last drop of water had been drained, as restoring power supply in such areas could cause death.

‘It has been observed that many colonies that were under water were built in the tank level areas (FTL). This has led to serious problems with water flooding the basements of residential complexes, ”said Chandrashekhar Rao.  He believes that building basements that can withstand flooding during construction should be an option to ensure that such incidents do not occur again.  He suggested that the civil authorities should henceforth impose a condition on builders that parking or basement areas of buildings should be flood-free.  He wanted the GHMC authorities to use the services of Metro Water Works and Fire Department to pump out floodwaters.  He also advised the electricity department to draw up an action plan to remove all the high-voltage power lines moving across residential areas.