Hyderabad: The Telangana government went on high alert on Wednesday over the increasing number of swine flu cases. Angered at the poor functioning of the medical and health department, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao stepped in to control the situation and declared that the government had decided to wage a battle against swine flu.

As a departure from norm, the state Cabinet even held an emergency meeting in the evening to discuss measures that needed to be taken to control the spread of the virus. Mr Rao spent almost the entire day holding a series of meetings with officials, corporate hospitals and ministers at the Secretariat.

He criticised the health department for its negligence in tackling swine flu effectively and expressed dissatisfaction over the functioning of the department right from the ministerial level to the roots, which, he said, had brought disrepute and had embarrassed the TRS government. Sources said in the meeting, deputy Chief Minister Dr T. Rajaiah, who also holds the portfolio of medical and health, was grilled by the CM.