Floods in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana leave thousands homeless

Relief operations in flood-hit Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as governments tackle heavy damage and provide assistance to victims.

A respite in rain on Monday helped the governments of the two Telugu States — Andhra Pradesh and Telangana — take up relief operations after incessant rain caused heavy damage to road and rail infrastructure and left many homeless after their homes were inundated. In Andhra Pradesh, the death toll was 17 in NTR, Guntur and Prakasam districts and three persons were reported missing in NTR district.

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Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, who toured the flood-affected districts of Nalgonda and Khammam, said the government has decided to set up a State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) to tackle emergency situations like floods in the future. The government decided to enhance ex-gratia for families of those who died due to floods from ₹4 lakh to ₹5 lakh each, and for milch animals to ₹50,000 from the existing ₹30,000 and for sheep and goats to ₹5,000 each from ₹3,000. The Chief Minister also announced an interim relief of ₹10,000 each to the flood-affected families. The IMD has issued a yellow alert in 10 districts of Telangana for Tuesday.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu visited the affected areas in Vijayawada well past midnight and was on the field till about 3 a.m. on Monday, and again took to the flood waters in a boat a few hours later. He spoke to the people who were stuck in their houses amidst several feet of swirling water that gushed from the Krishna River and Budameru rivulet, and handed over food to some of the victims.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Mr. Naidu over phone and assured him of all possible support from the Central government. The Union Home Ministry dispatched eight NDRF teams that worked alongside the SDRF and the police. Mr. Naidu wanted the floods to be declared as a national calamity.

Some areas in Vijayawada city resembled rivers as boats moved stranded people to safety. Hundreds of people were stuck on the top floors and terraces of their apartments.

Six helicopters airlifted food and other essentials to the flood victims and more than 110 boats were involved in shifting people to safety. The boats were brought in trucks from the neighbouring districts and several cranes and earthmovers were deployed. More than three lakh food packets were distributed to the people who had nowhere to go.