Telangana floods: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Sunday claimed that a "foreign hand" was suspected to be behind the cloudbursts that have gripped parts of the country.
"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 the 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.
He had been on a visit to the flood-hit Bhadrachalam town in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district of Telangana when he announced a rehabilitation package of Rs 1,000 crore in the temple town. The money will be used to build colonies in highlands as a permanent solution to flood threats.
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.
Later, the Chief Minister undertook an aerial survey at Eturu Nagaram region in Mulugu district and also reviewed flood-relief measures there.
BJP reacts to KCR's comments on cloudbursts
Telangana BJP president and Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar described KCR's comment 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.
Congress's reaction to KCR's comments
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.
Heavy rains lash Telangana
Heavy rains (recently) and inflows led to a massive rise in water levels in the Godavari river (though it started declining on Saturday) at Bhadrachalam town. Such massive water levels and flooding were last witnessed in 1986, some residents recalled. The state government has shifted several thousand people to relief camps in view of the flooding in the district.
Some of the flood-hit people held a protest at Bhadrachalam on Saturday demanding that the bund at the river be extended to prevent flooding of their residential localities. More than 10 people died in various rain-related incidents at different places like a collapse of walls and electrocution on last Wednesday.
(With Inputs from PTI)
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