Godavari floods- all but certain

• Level touches 56 ft at Bhadrachalam
• Third flood warning issued
• Helicopters, three rescue teams kept ready

M.Venugopal Khammam: Perur in the district recorded a heavy rainfall of 58 cm till 8 am of Friday, as continuous rain has been lashing the district for several days. The Godavari flood water is flowing over the highway in V R Puram and Chintoor mandals. Movement of traffic and people between Kannaigudam and Trushvarigudam has stopped in account of floods. The Godavari water entered Tekulaboru in Vengalraopet of Venkatapur mandal. The revenue officials shifted 35 families to safer places. After the Godavari flood level at Bhadrachalam touched 53 ft in the afternoon officials issued the third warning. The level in the morning was 51.5 ft. With Kaleswaram, Indravathi and Terur recording 189.4, 172.6 and 581 mm rain respectively officials are apprehending floods. Road links to 100 villages in the adjoining areas in either side of the Godavari have been paralysed. Following the Godavari flood vehicular traffic on the Burgampahad-Bhadrachalam highway was stopped. Movement of people to Sitaramnagar, Nadigudem, Venkatapuram, SC Colony and other villages was halted. Residents in the mandal centres are being shifted to safer places after flood water entered houses. Officials are appealing to people in Mothepattenagar, Burgampahad, Sarapaka areas to be ready to shift. Palvancha RDO Shyamprasad is overseeing the flood relief operations. The Godavari flood level in Manugur and Aswapuram mandals is rising heavily. In Bhadrachalam the river touched 48 and water entered several villages. Chikkudugunta, Sambaigudem, Ramanujavaram, Annaram villages in Manugur mandal and Ameertha, Ammagaripalli, Chintinryala, Nellipaka, Ramachandrapuram villages in Aswpuram mandals were under water. Residents in the villages were facing severe hardship as houses are waterlogged.

• Flood situation in East Godavari 'grim'
• Will go out of hands if discharge crosses 25 lakh cusecs
• First flood warning issued
• Residents of low-lying areas refusing to leave homes

Samson Raj Rajahmundry: The flood situation in East Godavari is becoming grim, as the Godavari level is rising alarmingly. The Irrigation department officials are expecting the discharge at Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage may reach 22-24 lakh cusecs by Saturday evening, which is precarious for low-lying areas and vulnerable places, where there are some gaps in the river bunds. If the discharge crosses 25 lakh cusecs, the situation will go out of hands. The first flood warning was issued at Dowleswaram at 5.45 p.m on Friday, when the water level reached 11.45 feet. Ten lakh cusecs was being discharged into the sea. According to the trend, the second warning might be issued when the discharge reaches 13 lakh around midnight. The third warning will be coming by Saturday morning when the discharge is 17 lakh cusecs. The Revenue officials started the evacuation and rehabilitation process amid resistance from the people. Residents living in low-lying areas and islands in the river are refusing to leave their homes and cattle, citing they had survived the 1986 floods, when the discharge was 35 lakh cusecs. The Revenue officials are making every effort to evacuate people to relief camps, as there are no signs of the water receding. The water level is increasing at Bhadrachalam. It touched 55.5 feet by Friday evening. Speaking to The Hans India, Superintending Engineer, Dowleswaram irrigation regular circle, Kasi Visweswara Rao said the flood situation was grim, as there are indications that water level might increase in 24 hours. The water discharge at Sir Arthur Cotton barrage might reach 30 lakh cusecs by Saturday evening. Villages submerged

• Crops in thousands of acres inundated
• Water enters Vemulawada temple

Eeda Madhukar Reddy Karimnagar: Karimnagar CEO Veerabrahmaiah at an emergency review meeting here on Friday asked the Revenue officials to shift people stuck in rain water in Manthani, Mahadevpur, Mutharam, Kataram areas to safer places. He said the district minister D Sridhar Babu had made inquiries about the rain situation. Official sources stated that the minister had discussed with Chief Minister M Kiran Kumar Reddy on the use of helicopters, if required. It received 63 per cent more rain, as against the average rainfall of 18.3 cm, officials said. Vehicular traffic on the Karimnagar-Hyderabad highway has been hit after several roads suffered heavy damage. Coal-mining activity in Ramagundam and Godavarikhani was affected after the flood water entered the areas. The handloom trade in Sircilla suffered a severe damage, after rain water entered the houses of weavers and power looms. In Vemulawada, flood water entered the Rajarajeshwari temple and the adjacent shops, posing serious problems to both residents and traders. Moola vagu is in spate. After a gap of 25 years the Manair river is flooded. Penganga, Pranahita flowing at danger level

• RTC Bus washed off in Theegalapalli Vagu s
• Driver, conductor rescued, no loss of life
• Hundred villages cut off from rest of district s
• Neelvai Vagu project breach averted

M Manthaiah Adilabad: Due to incessant rains for the last five days in the district and in the catchment areas of Maharashtra under the influence of cyclonic depression in the Bay of Bengal, the Penganga and Pranahita rivers were in spate and water was overflowing flooding several villages on Friday. More than hundred villages were marooned and communications were cut off with outside. An RTC bus was washed off in Theegalapalli Vagu in Bejjure mandal on Friday morning. As there were no passengers in the bus, there was no loss of life. The revenue staff and police rescued the driver and conductor of the bus. Water was over flowing at the Neelvai Vagu project after the water level reached full storage level and floodwaters started gushing in the Neelvai village inundating the low-lying areas. The CPI MLA Gunda Mallesh and the irrigation officials rushed there and inspected the project. They breached the bund with the help of proclaim and diverted the water from entering the village. Water entered Nannur and Padtanapalli villages due to rising level of the Ellampalli project backwaters. The revenue officials relocated people from the villagers to safer places. In Chennuru town, the Pedda Chervu was full and water was overflowing raising concerns for the safety of the people if there was a breach of the bund. Normal life disrupted

• Low-lying areas inundated
• Irrigation projects brimming with water

Sripathi Srinivas Nizamabad: Normal life was badly affected in the district due to heavy rains for the last five days. Floodwaters entered houses in low lying areas in several towns in the district. Several villages were inundated and people were relocated to safer places. The district in-charge Collector Harshavardhan was supervising the rescuer and rehabilitation work. He said the panchayat elections scheduled for 27 July were postponed to 31 July in Donegao village in Jukkal mandal and Thakkadapalli village in Bichkunda mandal due to heavy rains. Soya and cotton and cereal crops in several thousand acres were affected by the heavy rains. In Nizamabad town, water was flowing on the roads affecting the vehicular traffic. Several colonies were inundated. In the Sriramsagar project, the water level reached 1074 ft while the full storage level was 1091 ft. There was an inflow of one lakh 42 thousands cusecs of water. In Nizamsagar, the water level on Friday was at 1384 ft while the full water level was 1405 ft.

Officials brace For emergency

• Godavari crosses second flood warning level
• Five relief camps set up in Eturunagaram mandal
• 2,000 blankets, 250 kg milk powder, three boats being readied
• Ready to face any emergency: Collector G Kishan

James Edwin Warangal: The district administration is evacuating people living on the Godavari banks in district, as the river crossed the second danger level early on Friday. Five relief camps were set up in Eturunagaram mandal--- two at Eturunagaram and three at Allavarighanapuram, collector G Kishan said. About 2,000 villagers living in habitations abutting the river banks have been shifted to relief camps He directed officials to procure 2,000 blankets and 250 kg milk powder. Three mechanised boats were kept at the disposal of the rescue teams to meet any emergency. Following incessant rains, the Godavari has been flowing above the danger mark at Ramannagudem, in Eturunagaram mandal, for past of couple of days. The second warning was issued after the water level crossed 9.90 meters. The collector said at 4 pm on Friday the river was flowing at 10.53 meter mark. In 1990 August the water level had reached 12.87 metres. 'We are prepared to face any kind of emergency', he asserted. Continuous downpour for the past four days in the catchment of the Godavari severely affected normal life. Overflowing streams prevented people from moving out. Tupakulagudem, Royyur, Gogupally, Kondai, Malyala, Ilapur and Kalvapalli villages were cut off. The coal production in open cast mines was halted resulting in heavy loss to the Singareni Collieries at the coal town of Bhupalpalli. The town recorded rainfall of 29 cms. Vehicular traffic from Parkal town to Bhupalpalli was disrupted as Morancha vagu was overflowing. In Warangal, a person called Martha Bhaskar (40) has died when an old house collapsed due to heavy rain in Kashibugga in Warangal town. Six tanks around the district headquarters breached and flood water flowing at danger level hampered the restoration work. Three persons were washed away by Boggulavagu at Saddumadu. The persons called K Ramaiah, K Papaiah and A Ravi were later rescued. According to the collector G Kishan standing crops in about 4415 hectares were damaged due to the rains. It was estimated that 2,650 hectares of cotton, 795 hectares of paddy, pulses in 100 hectares and maize in 870 hectares were damaged. However, complete details were yet to be received, he added. A control room was set up at the district collectorate and the revenue divisional officers, mandal revenue officers and engineers of irrigation departments were put on alert. As the last report came in the water level of the river Godavari was receding slowly.