Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to CMs of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and took stock of the situation following heavy rains, floods in both states. Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar said on Sunday that the Centre is sending nine teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to Telangana for rescue and relief in areas affected by heavy rains and flash floods.
The minister said the teams were dispatched to Telangana on the orders of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, adding three teams each coming from Chennai, Visakhapatnam, and Assam.
As per IANS, Bandi Sanjay Kumar said that he informed Home Minister Amit Shah about the severe situation in the Khammam district of Telangana – where 110 villages have been submerged. He said he told the Union Home Minister that nine people were stranded on Prakash Nagar hillock, 68 people on Azmeera Thanda hillock in Palair constituency, and 42 others were trapped in buildings. He also said that he spoke to senior NDRF officials to coordinate the rescue efforts.
The minister also discussed the situation and the ongoing rescue operations with Telangana’s Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy. He urged NDRF teams to synchronise their efforts and carry out the relief operations efficiently.
Residential colonies along the Munneru River in Khammam district were submerged, IANS reported. People trapped in these colonies have climbed onto the rooftops and were waiting for help. NDRF teams already deployed in Khammam were trying to rescue people trapped in Rakasi Thanda. NDRF personnel were using boats to rescue trapped people as helicopters could not be employed for rescue operations due to the weather.
Heavy rains have been lashing several parts of Telangana since Saturday under the impact of a depression in the Bay of Bengal and the monsoon. Lakes, tanks, ponds and other water bodies have been overflowing, leading to the inundation of low-lying areas. The met office has issued a red alert for 11 districts, where extremely heavy rainfall is likely in the next 24 hours.
Addressing a press conference at the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) in Tadepalli, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said that massive amounts of rainfall have rocked the state.
"Due to the heavy rain, Vijayawada and Guntur cities have been completely marooned. Vijayawada-Guntur national highway at Kaza and Vijayawada-Hyderabad national highway at Jaggaiahpeta were totally marooned," CM Naidu said, as quoted by PTI.
According to the CM, Jaggaiahpeta received 26 cm rainfall in 24 hours while 14 mandals registered over 20 cm rainfall. He said 94 more places in 14 districts received rainfall between 7 and 12 cm and added that nine rain-related deaths and one missing case were reported.
Andhra Pradesh Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha on Sunday said that 13,227 people were evacuated from 294 villages in five districts due to torrential downpours in the past two days.
(With Inputs From Agencies)