'Cloudburst conspiracy by other countries, some say': Telangana CM on floods, day after 'shanti puja'

In a curious statement, Telangana's Chief Minister reportedly claimed that a foreign conspiracy could be behind cloudburst incidents in India. K Chandrashekar Rao's statement came amid floods in Telangana's Godavari region.

The CM was quoted as saying in reports, "There is this new phenomenon called cloudburst. People say there is some conspiracy, we don't know how far that is true, that people from other countries are deliberately doing cloudburst in our country at certain locations. In the past they did it near Kashmir, at Ladakh-Leh, then in Uttarakhand and now we are getting some reports that they are doing it in the Godavari region."

Rao was visiting flood-hit Bhadrachalam on 17 July when he made the remarks. He announced allocation of ₹1,000 crore to build colonies in highlands as a permanent solution for residents of the flood-prone town.

A day earlier, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti party chief had performed a "shanti puja" for the flooded Godavari river.

Areas in Telangana are part of Indian regions flooded as monsoon rains continue in the country. Parts of other states like Odisha, Assam, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh are also reeling under floods.