Telangana government cancels leave of irrigation officials amid heavy rain alert

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], August 13 (ANI): The Telangana government on Wednesday cancelled the leave of all irrigation department officials for the next four days in view of a heavy to very heavy rainfall alert issued by the Meteorological Department.
Telangana Irrigation, Food and Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy has directed all officials to remain at their duty stations and stay fully alert to prevent any mishap or damage due to excessive rain. He also instructed officials to keep a close watch on all irrigation projects, reservoirs, canals, and tanks.
At the first sign of any possible breach or damage, officials have been told to immediately inform their district Collector, district Chief Engineer, and the Engineer-in-Chief (Irrigation).
The Principal Secretary (Irrigation) and Engineer-in-Chief have also been asked to monitor the situation in all districts closely.
Reddy said any irrigation official in the state should directly inform him if an alarming situation develops in any irrigation department assets or water bodies.
A day earlier, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy had instructed the officials to take all necessary safety measures to avoid the loss of life during heavy rains and also ensure no vehicle movement on the flooding bridges, canals, streams, and causeways brimming with heavy flows in the low-lying areas, reads an official press release.
Special protective measures will also be taken to prevent the loss of livestock - cattle, goats, and sheep while crossing the streams with high flows in the districts.
Following the IMD forecast that the state will receive heavy to very heavy rains in the next 72 hours across the state, the Chief Minister held a video conference with senior officials of all departments and district Collectors from the Command Control Centre on Tuesday evening.
The Chief Minister instructed the state Chief Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao to appoint senior officers as Special Officers for the districts which are likely to receive very heavy rains. All the officials and staff were ordered to cancel their leave and join their duties at the field level immediately. (ANI)