Steady rise in river water level raises alarm in erstwhile Godavari districts

Vijayawada/Rajamahendravaram: Red alert has been sounded in ASR district, Konaseema and Eluru districts due to increasing water levels in River Godavari at Bhadrachalam and incessant rains in the agency areas of ASR district for the last few days.

On Sunday, Godavari floodwater levels reached 43 feet at Bhadrachalam at 7 pm. The officials issued the first danger warning signal. On the other hand, about 10 feet of flood level was recorded at the SAC Barrage in Dowleswaram near Rajamahendravaram on Sunday.

Over 7,45,735 cusecs of floodwater was released into the sea and 1,800 cusecs of water was released to the canals under the delta.

The floodwater levels depend on the rainfall in the upland areas and catchment areas. Though the depression in Bay of Bengal weakened and moved towards Odisha the impact still continues in some parts of AP and Telangana. The irrigation officials said that the flood level receded in Telangana’s Taliperu on Sunday and in view of this, the Godavari flood at Bhadrachalam is likely to recede on Monday. However, it is also expected that the flood may increase beyond the first warning level because the waters already released downstream from Taliperu will reach Bhadrachalam by Sunday night or Monday.

The water level reached 31.8 metres at the Polavaram project spillway on Saturday midnight. About 8 lakh cusecs of water was released downstream. Godavari is flowing beyond the first danger warning at 16.74 metres (36.77 feet) in Polavaram flood mandal Kunavaram. Due to this, the officials in Alluri district are on alert. In the Alluri district agency areas, streams and brooks are overflowing beyond the danger level. Traffic was disrupted in some parts of agency areas due to overflowing of streams.

Sabari River, a tributary of the Godavari is flowing furiously raising alarm. Heavy rains are occurring in Chinturu Agency. Incessant rains are hampering the relief efforts in some agency areas. Officials are getting ready to take up rescue and relief activities in the flood-hit areas due to floodwaters flowing at danger levels in Sabari and Godavari rivers.

The officials issued early warnings to the people of the villages in flood-hit mandals of Chinturu and Kunavaram. The Gandi Pochamma Ammavari temple in Gonduru in Devipatnam mandal was completely submerged in Godavari on Sunday. In Anantagiri mandal, the Kasipatnam Vagu overflowed on the road and traffic was blocked to the villages under the jurisdiction of Kivarla, Pinakota, Pedakota and other panchayats.

East Godavari District Collector P Prasanthi has appointed two special officers to directly monitor the flood relief operations in Nallajerla and Nidadavolu mandals which were inundated by the Erra Kaluva flood in the district. The two officers toured the flood-hit areas. Minister for Tourism, Culture, and Cinematography Kandula Durgesh advised the district administration to be on full alert against rains and floods in Nidadavolu and Gopalapuram constituencies and other parts of the district. On Sunday, the Minister spoke to the East Godavari Collector over phone from New Delhi and enquired about the flood situation.

Eluru district administration is on high alert in view of the floodwaters levels increasing in Godavari. Eluru SP K Pratap Siva Kishore visited the low-lying areas in Velerupadu mandal and suggested to the people to move to safer places.

Police personnel were deployed at various vulnerable places to evacuate the people and take up rescue and relief operations.

Eluru District Collector Vetriselvi along with SP K Pratap Siva Kishore visited some low-lying areas in Eluru and inspected the colonies that may be affected due to increasing waters in Tammileru. The Collector instructed the officials to strengthen the bunds to check breaches along Tammileru near Eluru.

Dr B R Ambedkar Konaseema district administration declared holiday to all educational institutions on July 22 in view of the increasing floodwater levels in Godavari. District Collector R Mahesh Kumar on Sunday announced holiday to educational institutions.

He further said Grievances Day to be held at the Collectorate on Monday is cancelled in view of incessant rains and increasing floodwaters.

Mahesh Kumar said the IMD has forecast that there is a possibility of heavy rains in the catchment areas of Akhanda Godavari. He conducted a video-conference and asked the officials to be on high alert in the vulnerable mandals prone for flooding.