Godavari nears danger mark: Threat to Bhadrachalam

Flood control rooms
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Amalapuram RDO office 233100

Water level reaches 56ft; 56 villages in East Godavari likely to submerge

• Water entering Lanka villages in Konaseema
• Flood threat to West Godavari

Rajahmundry: The river Godavari is in full spate and a second warning has been issued at Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage in Dowlaiswaram on Monday evening as water level reached 13.75 feet at Dowlaiswaram and about 13 lakh cusecs of water was being discharged into the sea. Water level in the Godavari may rise by late Monday night and another 15 lakh cusecs may be discharged into the sea by the early hours of Tuesday as water level at Bhadrachalam has reached 56 feet. First warning was given at Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage in Dowlaiswaram on Monday morning.

Water level at Bhadrachalam crossed 56 feet on Monday evening and the level at Dowlaiswaram reached 11.75feet at 8.45 am on Monday. It continued to move up to 13.75 feet by evening, with 12.88 lakh cusecs discharged gradually. Though the inflow from the tributaries of Godavari -- Sabari, Koida and Kunta -- is normal, the flood level is increasing rapidly due to heavy rains in the catchment areas including Ramagundam, Taliperu, Adilabad, Kaleswaram and several parts of Maharashtra state.

Meanwhile, people in Lanka villages in Konaseema are in the grip of panic as water started entering some of the villages. The Ainavilli-Muktheswaram causeway is overflowing disrupting the traffic. There are 56 villages in Athreya Puram, Ravulapalem, Kotha Peta, Ianavilli, Mummidivaram, Katerenikona, I Polavaram, P Gannavaram, Malkipuram, Sakhineti Palli, Mamidikuduru, Ambaji Peta and Allavaram mandals in Konaseema. There are fears that water may enter these villages by the early hours of Tuesday.

Accordingly, in the district, control rooms were functioning at the Collectorate, Amalapuram RDO offices and also at Mandal offices in the flood -prone areas. Collector Neethu Prasad instructed the flood duty officers to attend to relief work in their respective mandals for evacuation, if necessary, from low-lying areas, to shift people to relief camps and to provide food and drinking water. In Devipatnam mandal, in Veeravaram Lanka village where the flood water entered, the villagers were shifted to MPP school at Devipatnam relief camp. In Thoyyeru village water entered the SC colony, from where 10 families were shifted to safer places. At Rajahmundry in Bridge Lanka and Kethavari Lanka, which are located on the riverbed, revenue personnel started vacating them to safer places.

In the mean time, IMD, Indian Meteorological Department has given weather warning on Monday saying that due to active monsoon conditions, strong surface winds from south westerly direction, speed reaching forty five to fifty kmph along the coastal Andhra in the next 24 hours were likely to occur. Basing on this warning, the district collector, alerted the officials of various department and also the fishermen to take precautionary measures due to possible heavy gales.

Threat to West Godavari:
Heavy inflow into Godavari is causing alarm in West Godavari district. The river is flowing above danger mark at Polavaram. The flood waters overflowed the banks and onto the causeway at Kothuru village under Polavaram mandal. The causeway is the only link between the tribal hamlets and outside world. Thousands of tribals travel by bus or walk through the causeway. As many as 26 villages in the agency area have been cut off from outside world as flood waters are overflowing the causeway. The tribals, who have got stranded, are trying to reach their village by rowing boats. The officials have temporarily stopped tourism to Papi Kondalu in view of spate to the river. On the other hand, the flood waters have submerged the bathing ghats at Kovuru and are gushing towards temples in the vicinity. The official machinery has been on high alert.

At Bhadrachalam: The water level reached 56 feet here by Monday evening. The river is likely rise further to reach 60 feet by Tuesday morning, according to officials. Traffic in most of the divisions has come to a grinding halt. Vehicular traffic is now allowed only through Sarapaka and BPL. If the flood level goes up further, traffic on this route too will be stopped, the officials said. The district official machinery has so far evacuated 320 people from the remote village and shifted them to rehabilitation centres. Rehabilitation centres have been set up in a school at Chirutapally and in a private at Dandupet.

Flood waters have inundated the roads at 20 points in the district. Chikupally rivulet under Vajedu mandal, Ballakattu rivulet at Gummadidoddi road under Venkatapuram mandal and other streams flooded the roads, bringing the traffic to a halt. Various crops in 20,000 acres were submerged along the river course in the district. Crops like cotton, chilli and paddy have been under water for last three days. MLA S Rajaiah demanded that the government to pay compensation to farmers at the rate of Rs 20,000 an acre.

District Collector K Ilambarthi, accompanied by MLA Rajaiah, Zilla Parishad chairman G Kavita and others visited some of the flood-affected areas.

The Collector told reporters that as many as 20 launches had been deployed to evacuate people from the marooned villages, if necessary.