80 officers deputed for flood rescue in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: ith the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) predicting heavy rainfall in the next three days, K.T. Rama Rao, municipal admi-nistration and urban development (MA&UD) minister, has said 80 special officers have been deployed in the GHMC limits and adjoining municipalities for taking up rescue and relief measures.

He said that all other official operations have been suspended and the GHMC will focus only on pre-disaster, disaster and relief and rehabilitation measures.
Eighty colonies and 54 apartment complexes are still inundated, and 164 electric transformers are yet to be fixed. The southern part of the city, especially Charminar and LB Nagar zones are the worst-affected.

In view of the IMD’s rain warning, the government is on high alert, and has alerted the Army and National Disaster Response Force to be on standby.
The minister said that the state government had spent over `60 crore so far and another `670 crore will be spent for relief and rescue. This is only a preliminary estimation of the losses and it is expected to increase further. Rama Rao said the state government has submitted a preliminary estimate of loss suffered due to heavy rains in the GHMC area and in the rest of Telangana state to the Centre.

He sought an immediate assistance of  Rs 1,350 crore from the Centre.
Speaking to the media, Rama Rao, who has toured the flood-hit areas over the past week, said that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao had specifically inst-ructed that action be taken to prevent loss of life first, as property damage can be recovered or compensated.