Hyderabad, Sep 11 (IANS): A six-member Central team, which arrived in Telangana on Wednesday to visit flood-affected districts, was briefed by the state government on the extensive damage caused in many parts of the state.

The team, led by Col Keerti Pratap Singh, Joint Secretary, Operation and Communications, in the Union Home Ministry, met Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari at the Secretariat.

She briefed the visiting central team about the extensive damage caused in most parts of the state due to the unprecedented rainfall that occurred between August 31 and September 3. The Chief Secretary informed that even though the weather alert was received at very short notice, the administration was on high alert, and swift action was taken by the state government which minimised the loss of human life.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy was reviewing the situation regularly and the Deputy Chief Minister, along with two other Ministers, reached Khammam weathering the rains to monitor the relief and rescue operations.

The state government immediately released money to the district administration to take up relief measures.

The Chief Secretary appealed to the central team to make the guidelines liberal so as to enable the state government to extend relief extensively. She also informed that the Chief Minister has ordered to form specialised teams on par with the NDRF to participate in rescue operations in emergency situations in the state. She sought the support of the NDMA in training and other logistics support for the specialised teams.

Santhi Kumari also flagged the issue of air rescue operations during heavy rains which is becoming a major challenge for the administration and sought the cooperation of the Centre in addressing this challenge. She also highlighted the massive tree felling that happened on 332 hectares in the Eturnagaram region. The Central team was advised to conduct a detailed study to find out the root cause of this unprecedented ecological disaster.

Special Chief Secretary, Disaster Management, Arvind Kumar gave a brief overview of the damages caused and measures initiated by the state government to provide immediate relief to the people who are in distress. He said that the initial estimates of the damages were pegged at Rs 5,438 crore while the actual assessment is still going on.

Senior officials from the Agriculture, Roads and Buildings, Municipal Administration, Panchayat Raj, Energy, Animal Husbandry, and Forest briefed the Central teams about the damage through a PowerPoint presentation. Earlier, the Central team saw a photo exhibition where they were shown the extensive damage caused due to the rains. The central teams will tour the flood-affected districts of Khammam and Mahbubabad districts and interact with those affected by the floods and will also hold talks with the district administration.