Hyderabad Preps For Floods, But Selfies, Celebrations At Telangana Dams

Hyderabad: Heavy rain over the last one week has triggered a warning of floods for the IT hub of Hyderabad. 1,000 villagers have been evacuated from the Karimnagar district, 165 km from Hyderabad, where water is spilling over from the Manair Dam which is still under construction.

But today, thousands of locals visited the gates of the dam and many posed for selfies, celebrating the end of a four-year-long drought that ravaged the Telangana state and forced the suicides of more than 2,500 farmers in this period.

Nearly all dams and reservoirs in Telangana are now full courtesy of the surging Godavari River and its many tributaries. Farmers need not worry about irrigation for the next two years, claimed Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.

But the government is worried about a deluge of water pounding the state. The Chief Minister cancelled a cabinet meeting scheduled for this morning to ensure ministers stay in the districts they belong to in order to monitor the flood situation and supervise relief and rehabilitation efforts.

The army is already deployed in rain-affected areas of Hyderabad and the neighbouring Ranga Reddy district. A National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team is on standby in Hyderabad to participate in rescue work, if required.