During his tour of the flood-hit Bhadradri Kothagudem district on Sunday, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) claimed that there was foul play behind the incessant rains in the northern parts of the state. Hinting at some kind of ‘foreign conspiracy’ he alleged that cloudbursts had been triggered along the river Godavari.
“A new method called cloudburst has come. They say there are conspiracies around it. We don’t know how far it is true. Some foreign countries are deliberately doing cloudbursts in our country. Earlier, they did it in Leh (Ladakh). Later, they did it in Uttarakhand. We have received ‘gloomy, gloomy’ information that they are doing in Godavari basin also. Whatever it is due to changes in climate these kinds of calamities occur. So, we need to safeguard our people,” said Rao, popularly known as KCR. The current situation reflects the effects of incessant rainfall. As per the meteorological department and some private forecasters, this (heavy rains) situation may continue till July 29. So, the danger is not over yet, Rao said, after reviewing the flood relief measures with officials.
He directed the officials to not send back people from relief camps adding “we have to take care of them”. Reacting to KCR’s comments on the cloudbursts, Telangana BJP president and Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar described it as the “joke of the century”.
Sanjay said in order to cover his “failures”, KCR was enacting dramas. The Telangana BJP chief further alleged that KCR is trying to divert people’s attention from “submergence” of Kaleshwaram project and talked about a foreign conspiracy theory. Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President and party MP A Revanth Reddy demanded that if KCR has information about the “foreign hand” behind the cloudburst then he should hand over the information to the Intelligence Bureau, RAW and also Central government and this is the Chief Minister’s responsibility.
The statement came while the CM was touring the concerned area situation which had recently suffered large-scale damage as a result of heavy rains, to assess the ground.
Though his aerial survey of the Bhadrachalam region was called off owing to poor weather conditions,the aerial survey along the Eturnagaram direction was carried out.
KCR who is visiting the area along with a team of Ministers and authorities to assess the situation on the ground has ordered the release of Rs one crore each to district administrations of Mulugu, Bhupalpally, Kothagudem, Mahbubabad and Nirmal as immediate flood relief assistance. A release from the CMO late Saturday night said the CM directed Finance Minister Harish Rao to set up medical camps and supply adequate medicine and food to the flood victims and advised all district collectors to be on high alert in view of continuous floods in Godavari river for some more days.
Rao, who reached the district from Hyderabad on Saturday held a review meeting with Ministers, MLAs, top officials, MLCs and the district people representatives. He stressed on the need to conduct comprehensive survey to keep people safe during floods in Godavari and shift those from low lying areas. He suggested that the officials seek advice and opinions from the retired Engineers in the irrigation department in this connection, it said.
(With PTI inputs)
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News, watch Top Videos and Live TV here.
