Central teams to visit Telangana today to assess damage due to heavy rains

Hyderabad: An Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) will visit Telangana from Monday to assess the damage caused by floods in the state following the recent heavy rains, Union Minister of Tourism G Kishan Reddy said.

Addressing a press conference, he slammed the BRS Government in the state, saying that the dispensation is "ignorant" of the gravity of the situation and suggested it needs to spend the funds, also contributed by the Centre amounting to Rs 900 crore, which are lying with it under State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) towards relief measures.

"The state government is completely ignorant of the situation though it is having funds up to Rs 900 crore which was also contributed by the central government. From today, Central teams will be visiting flood-affected areas to assess the damage and discuss with the senior officials of the state government. I sincerely thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Home Minister on behalf of Telangana BJP," he said.

The team will be led by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Advisor Kunal Satyarthi and would consist of representatives of ministries/ departments of Agriculture, Finance, Jal Shakti, Power, Road Transport and Highways and National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), according to official sources.

At least 18 people lost their lives in various rain-related incidents due to the downpour that lashed Telangana during the past week, officials had said.

Relief work gained momentum from Saturday as rainfall came to a halt in many parts of the state.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao supervised the relief operations during the day speaking to ministers and Chief Secretary A Santhi Kumari, an official release said on Saturday night.

In view of the urgency of the matter, the Central team will visit Telangana from July 31. Upon assessment of damage based on IMCT visit and further upon submission of the state government's detailed memorandum, the Central team may visit the state again for a second time, official sourcess had said on Sunday.

The heavy rains during the past one week led to the inundation of low-lying areas and damage to agricultural fields at several places in the state.