Telangana | Five cattle grazers stranded along swollen Manair river in Rajanna Sircilla, rescue efforts underway

As many as five persons were stranded at Narmala near Gambhiraopet in Rajanna Sircilla district after flood water encircled the area where they had gone for cattle grazing near the Upper Manair Project on Wednesday afternoon, prompting the district authorities to launch a rescue operation.

A State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team was pressed into service to aid the rescue operation even as heavy rain battered the catchment areas of Manair river late in the afternoon, sources said.

A drone was used to deliver food and drinking water to the five stranded persons by the rescue personnel in the presence of Rajanna Sircilla Collector Sandeep Kumar Jha and Superintendent of Police Geete Mahesh Babasaheb.

Rescue efforts were underway till reports last came in. The Collector has been closely monitoring the rescue operation, official sources said.

In another incident, a cattle grazer was trapped in a swollen stream near Lingannapet village in the same mandal late on Wednesday afternoon. A rescue operation is ongoing to save the cattle grazer who got stuck atop a tree surrounded by floodwater.

In Rajanna Sircilla district, Ellanthakunta mandal received the highest rainfall of 132 mm followed by Gambhiraopet (92.5 mm) from 8.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

At 6.30 p.m. on Wednesday, inflow into Upper Manair Dam at Narmala increased to 83,256 cusecs. The water level in the dam reached the full capacity of 2 tmc ft.