Two-day holiday for rain-battered Greater Hyderabad residents

The Telangana government declared a holiday on Wednesday and Thursday within Outer Ring Road (ORR) in Greater Hyderabad in the wake of incessant rains.

Urban Development Secretary Arvind Kumar announced the holiday in all private institutions, offices, and non-essential services and that a work-from-home advisory.

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation's (GHMC) Disaster Management Director appealed to the area residents to stay home and cooperate in relief activities and normalisation tasks done by Disaster Response Force (DRF). "All efforts are being made to get the city back on track," an official tweet said.

Director General of Police M Mahender Reddy too appealed to people to stay indoors. "It's time again to restrain yourself from coming out. People are requested to reach your police on 100 and DRF teams on 040-29555500 for assistance.

Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar urged people to avoid going out till the rainwater recedes.

"Traffic advisory is for your own safety and security. Please follow them. Our officers have been working since last night to see that minimum inconvenience is caused to you," he said.

Meanwhile, Telangana Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan said that incessant heavy rains and its aftermath had worried all. "Apart from the government, everyone of us should take part to help those sufferings, in whatever way possible. Interacting with Telangana Red Cross volunteers today to appreciate their work and motivate them further," she tweeted.