Delay in relief angers public in flood-hit Andhra and Telangana

Six navy choppers were pressed into service to rescue people and drop food and water packets. However, several of those stranded claimed relief teams didn’t reach them in time.

CM Chandrababu Naidu camped out near the flood affected area Monday, and worked out of a caravan to oversee relief and rescue.

“Andhra Pradesh witnessed major devastation with heavy rain over past three days recorded at 29 cm to 34 cm on a single day due to cloud burst. The heavy rainfall broke all past records in Krishna and Guntur districts,” he said in a statement.

In Telangana’s Khammam, where heavy rain broke a 30-year record, several ministers and MLAs faced public criticism over distribution of relief packets.

Saying he had never seen such devastation, CM Revanth Reddy, who visited Khammam Monday, urged the Narendra Modi-led central government to declare the floods as a national calamity and urged the PM to visit the flood-hit areas to assess the damage. He announced flood assistance of `5 crore to the districts of Khammam, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Mahabubabad and Suryapet.

Like his Andhra counterpart, Reddy said he would camp overnight near Khammam to oversee relief and rescue operations.