DRF teams reach out to rain-hit Hyderabad citizens

Hyderabad: The exclusive Disaster Response Force (DRF) for the city, a brainchild of Municipal Administration Urban Development (MA&UD) Minister, KT Rama Rao, has continued to actively extend help to citizens during the ongoing monsoon season. For the past five days, over 150 complaints have been resolved by the DRF teams working under Greater Hyderabad Municipal […]

Hyderabad: The exclusive Disaster Response Force (DRF) for the city, a brainchild of Municipal Administration Urban Development (MA&UD) Minister, KT Rama Rao, has continued to actively extend help to citizens during the ongoing monsoon season.

For the past five days, over 150 complaints have been resolved by the DRF teams working under Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). While most of the complaints were related to water-logging, others were about uprooted trees, tangled wires and cellars inundated with water.

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Some of the areas where the DRF teams have been active in the past few days include Madhapur, Pragathi Nagar Lake in Kukatpally, and Upparpally crossroads near Attapur, Malakpet Bridge and Chaderghat bridge in GHMC Malakpet circle.

The DRF teams are pressed into action based on real-time weather updates. “Our teams interact with people to instil confidence and then execute safety measures in flood-like situations. Amid heavy downpours, we help the pedestrians first. While one team is on the job of relocating pedestrians, the other teams quickly identify the reason for stagnant water and try to drain the water and make way for vehicles,” a DRF official said.

“Apart from main roads, our teams also take up rescue measures in low-lying areas. The entire process is monitored by the Director of GHMC’s Enforcement Vigilance and Disaster Management (EVDM),” Viswajit Kampati who heads the teams, said.

The EVDM staffers are trained every three months on rescue operations pertaining to urban flooding, firefighting and wall collapse. Residents point out that it has become a very common sight to spot multiple DRF teams dressed up in uniform pushing vehicles on waterlogged roads, pumping out water from cellars and shifting people to safer locations, during heavy rains.

“Even if there is light to moderate rain, people in blue uniforms are spotted in parts of the city. Whenever heavy rains lash the city they are the first one to come to the aid of people equipped with machinery,” said Narasimhan A, president, Golf View Apartments, Financial District.

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