Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy have asked the central government to declare the heavy rains in their states as a natural disaster as more than 30 people have died so far, news agency ANI reported.
The heavy rains have killed 17 people in Andhra Pradesh and 16 in Telangana. Roads connecting Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have been severely damaged.
The rains that have lashed both states over the past three days have destroyed homes, crops, roads and more.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Naidu said at a press conference on Monday, "In my career, this is the biggest disaster...There have been events like Hurricane Hudhud and Cyclone Titli, but compared to those, the human and material damage is enormous." It is the biggest and most important one. "
In an official press release, Telangana Chief Minister Reddy also noted that preliminary estimates put the economic loss due to the floods at Rs 500 billion. Meanwhile, Jr NTR on Tuesday announced that he will donate Rs 50 million to the Chief Minister's Relief Funds of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Announcing this on social media X, NTR wrote, "Deeply saddened by the recent floods in the two Telugu states. I pray to God that the Telugu people recover quickly from this disaster."
"On my part, I would like to announce that I will be donating Rs 50 million each to the Chief Minister's Relief Funds of the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments to support the measures taken by the Telugu bi-state governments to provide relief to the flood victims," he added.
The IMD had warned that a low pressure system over the Vidarbha region was causing heavy rainfall in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, posing a risk of flash floods as well. The Meteorological Department has predicted that rains will ease and become moderate in both states today. Prakasam Dam in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, recorded its highest flood level, discharging 11.43 million cubic feet per second, with a maximum flood capacity of 11.9 million cubic feet per second. The area around the dam is inundated with floodwaters.
Rising water levels in Telangana's Muner River have caused severe flooding in Khammam district. District Collector Muzamil Khan called the floods "unprecedented" and said, "200 mm of rainfall has caused severe flooding in our district, similar to that in the last 30 years."
110 relief camps have been set up in Telangana and over 4,000 people have been safely shifted to these camps. Andhra Pradesh CM Naidu said that 32 senior IAS officers and 179 civil servants have been assigned to oversee relief efforts in the flooded areas, but the state is still unable to provide food to people stranded in certain areas. The two countries have requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indian Home Minister Amit Shah to assist in the relief efforts.
