Telangana postpones all exams till Dussehra due to unprecedented rains

Naveen S Garewal
Tribune News Service
Hyderabad, October 20 

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Telangana has postponed all scheduled examinations till Dussehra on account of the unprecedented rains.

State Education Minister P Sabitha Indra Reddy announced the government’s decision through a tweet after the state government came under strong criticism for allowing encroachments leading to devastation and loss of human life and property put at around Rs 5,000 crore.

The exams would include all kinds of exams in school and college that are either going on or are scheduled to start before Dussehra as the metrological department has predicted more rains, while life is yet to return to normal from the previous spell.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University and Osmania University have also announced postponement in their supplementary exams.

The state government strongly defended its position with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) working president KT Rama Rao (KTR), who is also the son of the chief minister, saying the government would look at possibilities of encroachments that could have caused the floods.

Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has announced a financial assistance of Rs 15 crore to Telangana for the relief and rehabilitation works.

Kejriwal said the Delhi state would stand by the Telangana state in this hour of natural calamity.

Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) has thanked him on behalf of people of Telangana that saw 70 deaths. Out of these deaths, 33 have been reported in and around Hyderabad.

Earlier on Monday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Edappadi Palaniswami had donated blankets and Rs 10 crore from the Chief Minister’s public relief fund with a message, “At this difficult time, on behalf of the state government and people of Tamil Nadu, I convey my heartfelt condolences to the family members of all those who have lost their lives in the rains and floods. As a token of the support and solidarity of the government and people of Tamil Nadu with the government and people of Telangana in their hour of need, I have ordered the immediate contribution of a sum of Rs 10 crore from the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund to the government of Telangana.”

It may be recalled that the state government has already sought an assistance of Rs 1,350 crore from the Union government. The Centre is yet to respond to the state’s request, while the chief minister has released Rs 550 crore from the state’s funds to deal with the issue of compensation.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted that the state may still continue to get rainfall in some parts and has issued an orange alert. Orange alert is categorised as medium where the effects of rainfall may include flooding and water logging, etc.