The Congress government in Telangana is yet to submit the report on the flood situation, says the Centre.

In stark contrast to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s claims that the state government is acting proactively to ensure quick relief to those affected by the floods, the Home Ministry said the state government was yet to submit even a situation report on the floods, apart from the documents required for the release of the Centre’s share to the State Disaster Response Funds.

In a letter to Chief Secretary A Santhi Kumari on Tuesday, Director of the Disaster Management Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs Ashish V Gawai requested the state government to submit the details as per the prescribed procedure. Since August 31, some districts were facing flood-like situation and were reported to have been adversely affected due to heavy rains. However, as per the prescribed procedure, no formal report of the situation has been received in the MHA control room so far, he said.

As reported by the State Accountant General, Rs.1,345.15 crore was available in the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) account as on April 1, 2024 for relief management in the affected areas during 2024-25.

The first instalment of the central portion of SDRF of Rs 208.40 crore for 2024-25 was to be released from June 1. However, the state government had neither made any request for release nor submitted any information related to crediting of funds released earlier, interest earned, utilisation certificate, etc. The MHA Director of Disaster Management also wanted the state government to direct the officers concerned in the State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) to provide a daily situation report on natural disasters on a regular basis.

The Ministry of External Affairs official also said that the central government had deployed seven NDRF teams along with life-saving boats and equipment in the state for rescue and relief operations. Besides, two IAF helicopters were also deployed in the state and were on standby at Hakimpet.