Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) claimed that there was a “foreign conspiracy” behind the incessant rains in the northern parts of the state, alleging that cloudbursts had been triggered along the river Godavari.
The CM said this during his tour of the flood-hit Bhadradri Kothagudem district on Sunday, 17 July.
KCR was touring Kothagudem district, which saw large-scale damage due to the rains, along with a team of Ministers and authorities to assess the situation on the ground. After meeting the affected families at relief camps, the CM announced that each relocated family will be given Rs 10,000 as an instant relief measure.
At an onsite review meeting with Ministers, MLAs and officials, KCR said he suspected a foreign conspiracy behind the recent heavy rains that triggered floods in the state.
He said, “There is this new phenomenon called cloudburst. We don’t know how far it’s true, but it is said that there are a few conspiracies regarding this, that some countries are intentionally triggering cloudbursts in some places in our country. Earlier they did it in Leh-Ladakh, then in Uttarakhand, and now we have some gloomy information that they are doing the same along the Godavari river basin.”
KCR said that the Kadem reservoir in Nirmal district had miraculously withstood the floods despite surpassing its maximum capacity. “Though its maximum capacity is about 2.90 lakh cusecs, this time it reached 5 lakh cusecs, and it is a miracle that it is still standing. Thankfully, there was no loss of life in spite of the heavy floods,” he said.
A portion of the CM’s aerial survey of the Bhadrachalam region was called off owing to poor weather conditions; however, the aerial survey along the Eturnagaram direction was carried out.
The CM said that he has directed the Kothagudem District Collector to go ahead with a Rs 1,000 crore housing project on higher ground to provide safe residential facilities to flood victims. While urging people to be cautious for 15 more days in view of the situation, the CM stated that farmers who lost their crops will be provided assistance. He also directed officials not to move flood victims from relief camps until the situation gets better.
(Published in an arrangement with The News Minute.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)