HYDERABAD: Expressing its disappointment over the State government’s report on the recent floods, a bench of the Telangana High Court, comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice T. Vinod Kumar, on Friday directing the administration to furnish a fresh report in accordance with the court’s directives issued on July 27 and August 1, 2023.
Outlining the specific requirements, the bench said that the fresh report 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.
Earlier, the court had ordered the State government to submit a detailed report on the floods. In response to the court’s instructions, Special Government Pleader (SGP) Harender Prasad, presented a report outlining the ramifications of the heavy rainfall in Telangana.
The report said 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.
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 said that in responding to the floods, the Chief Minister announced an allocation of `500 crore for the restoration of flood-affected areas. He said that as per the data provided by the Transport and Roads and Buildings departments, of the 548 affected roads, 471 were State roads.
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. Prabhakar said that the flood’s impact extended beyond the directly affected areas, with Hyderabad grappling with issues like conjunctivitis and other pandemics, including malaria. To this, the bench advised counsel to offer constructive suggestions to aid the victims, rather than making unsubstantiated allegations under the guise of the PIL.