Rains claim five more lives, Telangana flood toll at 21

HYDERABAD: The death count from floods battering Telangana climbed to 21 on Saturday after five persons were crushed under the debris of walls or washed away by the tide in Medak, Siddipet and Warangal districts. The situation turned grim with the meteorological department predicting heavy to very heavy rainfall in 20 of 33 districts of the state in the next 48 hours.In Medak, two migrant workers, Raghben Yadav, 30, and Bikari Yadav, 45, from Bihar died and their co-worker, Dinesh Das, 25, suffered injuries after a wall collapsed in Sri Laxmi Ganesh Minerals company at Reddypally village late Friday. Chegunta police registered a case on the complaint of a mill worker.Rain-related casualties were also reported from Warangal town. Two labourers died and a woman suffered severe injuries when a rain-soaked wall of an old building at Mandi Bazar collapsed on them late Friday.One person drowned at Vallabhapur in Narsingi mandal of Medak district and an unidentified man was washed away while trying to wade through the swollen Koodavalli rivulet between Alwal and Lingampet in Siddipet district on Saturday morning. The swirling currents also washed away several arterial roads in Warangal, Mahbubabad and Mulugu districts. A stretch of National Highway 163 was completely damaged at Janagalancha forest area between Pasra and Tadwai in Mulugu district, forcing RTC to cancel services from Hanumakonda to Eturnagaram and Bhadrachalam.Early Saturday, an NDRF team rescued 23 marooned farm workers in Kothapalli hamlet in Suryapet district and 14 others caught in flood waters at Lingalaghanpur in Jangaon district. "We have used drones to deliver food at night to people caught in flood waters. In the morning, the NDRF team evacuated them," Suryapet SP S Rajendra Prasad said.With Met department predicting heavy to extremely heavy rain in 20 districts in the next two days and heavy inflows coming into various reservoirs, irrigation department officials opened floodgates of Lower Manair Dam in Karimnagar, Nizamsagar project in Kamareddy district and Singur dam in Medak district.