The State government has informed the five-member inter-ministerial Central team, deputed to Telangana to assess the damaged caused by rains and floods, that the loss suffered by different sectors was over ₹9,420 crore with the agriculture sector bearing the maximum brunt.
Chief Secretary to the Government Somesh Kumar explained to the Central team, led by Joint Secretary in Home Ministry Praveen Vashista, on Thursday that the State government had taken all measures to minimise loss of life and property in the recent rains and floods. He also explained the extent of damage with the help of a photo exhibition on the damage caused.
Mr. Somesh Kumar stated that damage to public infrastructure was enormous and the State government had already made a preliminary assessment of the damage. While the loss to crops was estimated at ₹8,633 crore, the loss to road network was around ₹222 crore. Besides, loss in the GHMC area was estimated to be around ₹567 crore.
On its part the State government had released ₹550 crore for immediate flood relief and food packets were supplied to over 2 lakh people. Besides, each family in the affected/inundated areas was given one kg of bleaching powder and over 3 lakh chlorine tables were also distributed among the affected people. All the 15 electrical sub-stations which were inundated were brought back into service within 48 hours, Mr. Somesh Kumar explained to the visiting team.
The visiting team also interacted with the senior officials of Irrigation, Municipal Administration, Roads and Buildings, Energy, Agriculture and Panchayat Raj Departments, GHMC and Hyderabad Metro Water Board. The officials gave an overview of the loss incurred by the departments individually.
Officials explained to the Central team that there was excess rainfall during the last 10 days and it had resulted in flooding. Although rains across the State were excessive, the damage other than crop and roads was most in and around Hyderabad. Breaches to three major tanks coupled with flooding in Musi river resulted in inundation of several low lying areas in the City, they told the visiting team.
The Central team comprised Joint Secretary in Home Ministry Praveen Vashista, R.B. Kaul from Finance Ministry, K. Manoharan from Agriculture Ministry, S.K. Kushwaha from Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and M. Raghuram of Ministry of Water Resources.
