Harish Rao slams Congress government over flood mismanagement in Medak, Kamareddy

Former Minister T Harish Rao on Thursday accused the Congress government of being completely unprepared to tackle the heavy rains that wreaked havoc in Medak and Kamareddy districts, leading to crop loss and human casualties.

Speaking to reporters after inspecting rain-affected areas in Medak, Harish Rao said Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had prior warning from the IMD but failed to keep officials on alert. This, he alleged, resulted in widespread damage to agriculture and loss of lives.

Referring to the death of Bestha Satyanarayana and Yada Goud, whose auto-rickshaw was swept away, Harish Rao said the two men clung to an electrical pole for hours and made repeated calls to officials and Congress leaders for help, but no assistance reached them. He alleged that while Cabinet Ministers and the Chief Minister used helicopters even for short distances, the government failed to save the lives of the two victims. They were swept away when the pole was uprooted by flood waters.

Harish Rao demanded that the government pay Rs.25 lakh ex gratia each to the



families of the deceased, besides Rs.25,000 compensation to farmers who lost crops in the unprecedented rains. He criticised the Chief Minister for holding a review meeting on Musi beautification on Tuesday instead of preparing the administration for the impending rains.

“While people were suffering due to heavy rains, the Chief Minister was busy reviewing sports and other programmes which were not urgent. Even after the downpour, the government failed to provide safe drinking water to affected areas,” he said.

Harish Rao said residents of Dhup Singh Thanda have been stranded since Tuesday night without food or drinking water, while villagers in Havelighanpur were forced to drink rainwater. He held the Chief Minister, his Cabinet colleagues and officials responsible for the situation.

Later, Harish Rao consoled the family members of Satyanarayana and Yada Goud, whose body has not yet been traced.

MLA Kotha Prabhakar Reddy, BRS leaders M Padma Devendar Reddy, Sheri Subhash Reddy and others accompanied him during the visit.