Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured Andhra Pradesh and Telangana chief ministers of all possible help from the Centre to deal with the crisis following heavy rains in their states. Officials said, Mr Modi spoke to the two chief ministers – N Chandrababu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh and A Revanth Reddy of Telangana – over phone in the wake of heavy rains and floods. Heavy downpour continued to lash many parts of Telangana, including Hyderabad, yesterday. All primary and secondary schools have been closed today in Telangana. Hyderabad district collector announced the closure as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of students.     

Unprecedented rainfall in the past two days in Andhra Pradesh has paralysed life in several places, especially in Vijayawada and its vicinity, while 17,000 rain-affected people were evacuated from across the state.    

26 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams are being deployed for flood relief and rescue operations in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. While 12 teams are already deployed in the two states, 14 more are being dispatched. Out of the 14 teams, eight are being airlifted from various locations across the country. The NDRF teams are equipped with inflatable boats, pole and tree cutters and basic medical aid tools. Torrential rains battered the two states for the second consecutive day yesterday.

As many as 99 trains were cancelled, four trains were partially cancelled and 54 were diverted due to heavy rains and waterlogging over tracks at multiple locations on the South Central Railway network.