Babu Vs Vijayawada Floods: A Tale of Many Firsts

For the first time in the last three decades, Vijayawada witnessed over 29 cm of rainfall in a single day which instigated a severe flooding situation in the area. In fact, weather experts have reported that this is possibly the worst calamity recorded in the history of the Krishna River, meaning that the new NDA government which is just three months old had to deal with a treacherous situation.

But luckily, the experienced and versed crisis man, Chandrababu was at the helm as AP waged a painful battle against the horrific floods. This take has witnessed many first-time occurrences and here is a look into the same. 

In a first of its kind attempt, the government of Andhra Pradesh deployed drones for the relief operations. These drones were procured by the AP government to supply food and other essential supplies to the victims. This is the first time in India, not just in AP, that drones were used for relief operations. Even Union Minister Shiv Raj Singh Chauhan seemed impressed with this as he appreciated Babu.

Then came another first of its kind implementation where fire trucks and related personnel were used for sanitation purposes. Fire hoses and equipment were used to clean debris from the houses which turned out to be a very innovative way to provide quick relief to the paining victims. 

This was followed by Chandrababu making another innovative announcement where he said the affected public could use the services of electricians and plumbers free of cost. These technicians were again groomed by the government itself through the skill development program. This is the first time such a resurrection plan was devised by the government. 

Lastly, Chandrababu himself created a first-of-its-kind record by becoming the first CM in the history of the state to station himself in a flood-hit area for 10 long days. He made the Vijayawada secretariat his makeshift house for the last 10 days as he actively partook in the relief operations and monitored the efforts. Having the CM on the ground along with them must have been an assuring sight for the affected public.