In a review meeting at his residence on Sunday, Chief minister K Rosaiah directed the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and traffic police to take steps for improving the road conditions on a war-footing.

“Rains are continuing and at times there are heavy rains. Many roads and areas are getting water logged. There are traffic bottlenecks everywhere. What steps are you taking to ease the situation?”, he queried.

Rosaiah directed traffic police to ensure smooth flow of traffic by taking up junction improvements, reducing right turns, speeding up road-widening work, restrictions in parking on main roads and reducing traffic stoppages for VIP movements.

He asked GHMC officials to immediately take up road repair works and look to drain out water on roads after rains to ensure smooth flow of traffic. He instructed collectors of Hyderabad and Rangareddy districts not to compromise on drain widening. The chief minister accepted GHMC’s plea to release Rs 50 crore for repair of roads.

He also positively responded to the proposal to bring in a new law to protect lakes and nalas in the city and surrounding areas from encroachments. Officials informed him all tanks in and around the city were full and any more rains would inundate the nearby inhabited areas. Responding to the situation, Rosaiah said an empowered committee should look into the problem come out with a comprehensive plan. He directed officials to step up cleaning work to prevent spread of epidemics and seasonal diseases.

Rosaiah said that all precautions must be taken to evacuate people living on the banks of the Musi since the Himayath Sagar and Osman Sagar were full and water was being released from the reservoirs. Ministers D Nagender, M Mukesh Goud, Secunderabad MP Anjan Kumar Yadav, GHMC mayor B Karthika Reddy and other officials were present at the meeting.