Telangana governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan on Wednesday visited the flood-affected areas in Hanamkonda and Warangal districts, even as the opposition parties slammed chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao of “not finding time to call on the flood victims but to go to Maharashtra to play politics”.
A Raj Bhavan spokesperson said the governor visited several areas such as Jawahar Nagar and NTR Nagar colonies in Hanamkonda town and adjacent villages. Soundararajan also visited the damaged houses and inundated paddy fields, said the spokesperson.
“The governor also distributed health kits, and groceries to the flood victims mobilized by the Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS),” the spokesperson added.
Hundreds of the flood victims submitted representations to the governor and shared their issues with her. She gave a patient hearing to their grievances and interacted with them. The governor assured them that she willtake up their grievances to the notice of the authorities concerned.
The governor also donated to the Red Cross Society, Warangal, and asked them to provide support for immediate needs. “When some of the victims told her that there was no drinking water for them, she provided them with water bottles kept in her vehicle,” the spokesperson said.
Later, Tamilisai also interacted with the officials to know about the extent of the damage to the paddy fields and loss of property and livestock, and the number of people displaced or evacuated due to the inundation.
{{/usCountry}}Later, Tamilisai also interacted with the officials to know about the extent of the damage to the paddy fields and loss of property and livestock, and the number of people displaced or evacuated due to the inundation.
{{/usCountry}}Relief teams from the Indian Red Cross Society and other senior officials of Raj Bhavan accompanied the governor to extend relief measures to the people.
Meanwhile, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party lashed out at the chief minister and his son, state municipal administration minister K T Rama Rao for neglecting the people in the rain-ravaged areas of Telangana.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday alleged that despite being in responsible positions, the chief minister and the municipal administration minister had left the people to their fate, when the state in general and Hyderabad in particular were reeling under heavy rains.
“While KCR confined himself to the farm house, KTR was busy celebrating his birthday. There have been tall claims that they have transformed Hyderabad into a global city and the entire world is looking at Hyderabad’s development. But the fact is that the citizens of Hyderabad are hesitating to come out of their houses, as they are worried about ditches and manholes at every stretch,” Reddy alleged.
He said it was unfortunate that the state government had “no time even to do proper review of the flood situation in the state and Hyderabad”.
On the other hand, Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker M Raghunandan Rao said the people were hoping that the chief minister would visit some of the worst-hit areas in the state to get first hand knowledge of the intensity of the damage caused.
“Instead, KCR flew to Maharashtra to expand his party and promote one more of his family members as Bharatiya Janata Party leader in that state. We were hoping that at least after Monday’s cabinet meeting, the chief minister will visit the flood-ravaged areas but he is only interested in his party activities and not about suffering people of the state,” Rao said.
He said the government had announced release of ₹500 crore for flood relief but it would not be sufficient for farmers whose lands and crops were submerged in the latest rains.
On Sunday, Union tourism minister and state BJP president G Kishan Reddy also visited Moranchapalli village of Jayashankar Bhupalpally district, which was completely inundated in the floods and called on the flood victims.
Refuting the opposition parties’ allegations, senior BRS leader and state power minister G Jagadish Reddy said that the state government had reacted on time to rescue the flood victims whenever there were heavy rains in the last four years.
“On the other hand, the BJP-led central government had not provided any assistance to the flood-affected areas of the state, while it reacted immediately when there were floods in Gujarat last year. Yet, the Congress and the BJP never criticised the Narendra Modi government,” Reddy said.