By Express News Service
KAKINADA/VIJAYAWADA: As Godavari continued to be in spate, the East Godavari district administration issued the second flood warning at Sir Arthur Cotton (SAC) Barrage in Dowleswaram on Sunday. With the forecast of Central Water Commission (CWC) that the flood water in the river is likely to increase further, the East and West Godavari district administrations are on high alert. Five National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been deployed for relief and rescue operations in the two districts.
At 7 pm, the inflow at the SAC Barrage was 15.28 lakh cusecs. The officials issued the second flood warning as the inflows crossed 13 lakh cusecs around Sunday midnight. They said that the third and final (danger level) warning would be issued if the flood water increases to 17 lakh cusecs. The water level in the river at Kunavaram and Chinturu is rising rapidly.
One person was washed away along with his motorcycle in flood water in T Narasapuram mandal of Agency area in West Godavari district, when he tried to cross a culvert between Appalarajugudem and Madyhanapuvarigudem. The victim was identified as M Durga Rao of Ankampalem village in Jeelugumilli mandal. Later, his body was found.
According to officials, 13 villages in 8 mandals of East Godavari were affected by Godavari floods. About 1,800 people were shifted to seven rehabilitation centres in the district.
Flood water is overflowing on the bridge across Godavari river between Kunavaram and VR Puram mandals, cutting off the road connectivity between the two places. Meanwhile, River Sabari is flowing menacingly, posing inundation threat to adjacent areas.
Following heavy rains in the upper catchment areas of the river in Telangana and Chhattisgarh, the inflows are increasing steadily. Chinturu has been cut off with the rest of the district as all the roads leading to the mandal were submerged in flood water.
Chinturu tahsildar K Satyanarayana said 349 houses in Lakshmipuram, Veerapuram, AG Koderu and Kommuru were submerged completely. As many as 1,101 people from these villages were shifted to relief camps set up at Narasimhapuram high school, Vegithosa, Veerapuram and Mamiligudem.
Road connectivity to 36 villages in Devipatnam mandal was cut off due to inundation of roads, while 18 of those villages, including Posamma Gandi, Pudipalli, Thoyeru, Devipatnam, Agraharam, Manturu, Mulapadu, Penikalapadu, Kachaluru and Kondamodalu were marooned.
The AP State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) said two teams were deployed at Jangareddygudem and Kukunoor in West Godavari for relief and rescue operations.Three teams were deployed in East Godavari, one each at Rampachodavaram, Rajamahendravaram and Yatapaka.Each team comprises 25 personnel.
Polavaram project site flooded
The flood at Polavaram project site also increased rapidly. According to the CWC, the flood water at the project is likely to increase to 15.8 lakh cusecs by Monday morning.Though Srisailam reservoir on River Krishna, received steady inflows of about 1.45 lakh cusecs on Sunday, the trend shows that the inflows are on the decline.
The inflows are expected to increase once again in the coming days if the catchment areas of the river in the upstream receive rainfall. Krishna river is likely to get heavy inflows into PD Jurala Project in Jogulamba Gadwal district of Telangana and Srisailam reservoir in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh.
The water level in the reservoir is likely to increase substantially as more inflows are expected in the next four or five days, officials said.
Jagan reviews Godavari, Krishna flood situation
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy reviewed the Godavari flood situation with East and West Godavari district officials on Sunday evening. The officials informed him that people residing in the flood-prone areas have already been evacuated. The Chief Minister directed them to mitigate damage to property and ensure that there is no loss of life.He asked the officials to deploy NDRF, SDRF and allied teams for rescue and relief operations wherever necessary. He also took stock of the flood situation in Krishna basin. He directed the officials to be on high alert, especially in the areas downstream of Prakasam Barrage
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