26 NDRF teams deployed for flood relief, rescue ops in Andhra, Telangana

Twenty-six National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams are being deployed for flood relief and rescue operations in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, officials said Monday.

While 12 teams are already deployed in the two neighbouring states, 14 more are being dispatched, they said.

Out of the 14 teams, eight are being airlifted from various locations across the country, the officials said.

The NDRF teams are equipped with inflatables boats, pole and tree cutters and basic medical aid tools, they said.

Torrential rains battered the two states for the second consecutive day, resulting in at least 10 more fatalities, flooding and waterlogging in several areas, and disruptions to road and rail traffic on Sunday.

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, an SCR official said.

Rivers in both states were in spate and thousands of people were evacuated by national and state disaster response forces from flooded areas to relief camps.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Telangana CM A Revanth Reddy and assured them of all possible help from the central government to deal with rains and floods.