Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has ordered a fresh report on floods in the state after expressing its disappointment over the report generated on the recent floods.
A bench comprising chief justice Alok Aradhe and Justice T Vinod Kumar, on Friday, directed the administration to furnish a fresh report in accordance with the court’s directives issued on July 27 and August 1, 2023.
The bench outlined specific requirements that need to be included in the fresh report.
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“It must encompass comprehensive particulars about the flood victims, special measures taken under the Disaster Management Act, actions taken to mitigate the situation, details of deceased individuals, specifics of family members receiving compensation of Rs 4 lakh, and a comprehensive overview of rehabilitation efforts for the affected victims by the next hearing on August 17, 2023,” stated the bench.
The state government was earlier asked by the court to submit a detailed report on the floods, following which Special Government Pleader (SGP) Harender Prasad, presented a report outlining the ramifications of the heavy rainfall in Telangana.
The report stated that Telangana witnessed relentless rains from July 18 to 27, leading to the loss of 49 lives, and extensive damage to irrigation tanks, and agricultural crops.
Warnings from the IMD had forewarned of exceptionally heavy rainfall on July 19 and 20, followed by additional alerts between July 26 and 28.
Additionally, it said that the flood crisis was exacerbated by copious rainfall in the coastal areas of Maharashtra and the catchment regions of the River Godavari.
The SGP also said that the chief minister announced an allocation of Rs 500 crore for the restoration of flood-affected areas in response to the damage.
“As per the data provided by the Transport and Roads and Buildings departments, of the 548 affected roads, 471 were state roads,” said SGP.
Chikkudu Prabhakar, counsel representing the petitioner, contested the state government’s report, asserting that the on-ground situation contradicted the presented information.
He said that he had submitted a comprehensive response, highlighting the factual state of affairs.
“The flood’s impact extended beyond the directly affected areas, with Hyderabad grappling with issues like conjunctivitis and other pandemics, including malaria,” said Prabhakar.
The bench advised counsel to offer suggestions to aid the victims.
