Authorities have placed army flood relief teams on standby in Hyderabad and Secunderabad for anticipated rescue of people as heavy rains are forecast for the next few days, officials said yesterday.
The army said the teams were kept on standby on request of the Telangana government.
Nine flood relief teams with boats are on standby to be launched immediately if needed.
Additional teams and boats will be sent depending on the situation, a Defence Ministry statement said.
“These preparations are over and above the current deployment of six flood relief teams with boats and medical facilities at Gulbarga and Yadgir districts of Karnataka from October 17 who have already evacuated 427 marooned people to safe locations. The evacuation process is still continuing with increasing water flow of Bhima and Krishna Rivers,” the statement said.
Following heavy rains last week in Telangana that resulted in inundation of the Bandlaguda area of Hyderabad, army flood relief teams had evacuated 153 people and had distributed a large number of food packets to stranded people.
Rains continued to lash Hyderabad and its outskirts yesterday, adding to the woes of people already battered by heavy downpour and flash floods twice last week.
Hundreds of houses in Hafiz Baba Nagar and surrounding areas and in Bandlaguda, Mailardevpally, Nadeem Colony and several colonies on the outskirts of Hyderabad are still under water.
The Disaster Response Force (DRF) of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) continued to shift people from flood-hit areas to safe places.
People hoping to return to their homes in the flooded areas may have to wait longer as the meteorological office has forecast more rains.
“DRF teams are clearing stagnant water and fallen trees in view of the heavy rains in the city. All the teams are alert and attending to emergency citizen assistance calls,” GMHC  official Viswajit Kampati said.
Meanwhile, there were rumours of breach of Meerpet lake but authorities sought to dispel them.
Education Minister P Sabitha Indra Reddy clarified that there was no breach, and that some old videos and photographs were being circulated on social media.
Reddy said all examinations have been postponed due to the floods.
After the minister tweeted the announcement, several students replied with a request to cancel the examinations saying they can’t write the exams in the current situation in view of the Covid-19 pandemic and floods.
The decision to postpone the exams is expected to provide relief to more than 500,000 students.
The government is likely to announce a fresh schedule of the exams later.
Meanwhile, the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), Hyderabad also announced postponement of all undergraduate and postgraduate regular and supplementary examinations set for today and tomorrow.
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