Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has directed collectors of all districts in the State to evolve a foolproof system on the lines of the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) to remove all encroachments on lakes/tanks and nalas to protect the water bodies and prevent flooding.
The Chief Minister issued directions to this effect during a meeting held in Mahabubabad Collectorate on Tuesday (September 3, 2024) to review the situation arising out of heavy rains that battered Mahabubabad district in the past three days. He visited some of the rain/flood affected areas before holding the review meeting.
He said, “People in flood-affected areas in Khammam complained that rampant encroachment of nalas/canals by a former minister during the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government was responsible for inundation of several colonies in the town in the impact of Sunday’s (September 1, 2024) heavy rainfall”.
Take action against those responsible for encroachments in Khammam: CM
“I have instructed the Khammam Collector to take appropriate action against those responsible for the encroachments. The government will not spare those who have encroached the lakes and nalas, however influential they are,” he said, asserting that protection of lakes and prevention of flooding is the top most priority of the government.
The removal of encroachments on nalas in Ramnagar area in Hyderabad helped prevent inundation to a significant extent in the latest spell of rains, he noted.
Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) demolishing unauthorised structures constructed on a nala in Ramnagar area, Hyderabad on Friday (August 30, 2024). | Photo Credit: RAMAKRISHNA G
The Collectors may appoint advocates and take permission from the courts to remove encroachments on lakes/tanks by following the due process of law, he said.
Taking a dig at the BRS leader T. Harish Rao for his criticism of government’s relief efforts, he said “Let the former Irrigation Minister make his stand clear on the illegal encroachment of nalas/canals by a former minister in the erstwhile BRS government in Khammam.”
Blue book with details of flood/rain affected areas
Reiterating that the government will extend all help to the rain/flood-affected people, the Chief Minister asked the Mahabubabad Collector to prepare a ‘blue book’ containing the data of areas affected by heavy rains/floods for taking up flood prevention and mitigation measures effectively in the future.
He said ex-gratia of ₹5 lakh each will be disbursed to the families of the four persons including a father-daughter duo who died in the rain-related incidents in Mahabubabad district.
