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| Withdrawing monsoon takes heavy toll, kills 130 people |
| BS Reporter / Pune/Hyderabad Oct 04, 2009, 00:01 IST |
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The withdrawal of the south-west monsoon has created havoc in parts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa with more than 130 deaths being reported over the last three days. Large areas of these states have been cut off from the main cities, as the two major rivers, Krishna and Godavari, and other smaller rivers are flowing above the flood-line for almost 24 hours now.
Kurnool and other western regions of Andhra Pradesh have reported at least 26 deaths while 88 deaths have been reported in Karnataka. As many as 10 people had died in the Konkan region of Maharashtra, said officials.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy rains in the region for another 48 hours, keeping officials on their toes.
The south-west monsoon usually starts withdrawing from Rajasthan on September 1. This year, as the monsoon started late, the withdrawal got delayed by almost 27 days. Speaking to Business Standard, a senior IMD official in Pune said: “Since the south-west monsoon was weak this year, we were expecting a strong reverse monsoon. Heavy rains are expected to hit Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka over the next two days.”
According to IMD data, north and south Karnataka sub-divisions have reported excess rainfall this year, while western Maharashtra, Konkan (Maharashtra) & Goa, coastal Karnataka and Rayalseema (Andhra Pradesh) divisions have recorded average rainfall since June 1. “Heavy rains slashing the southern region for the last three days are expected to make up for the monsoon deficiency in Telangana (Andhra Pradesh) and coastal Andhra Pradesh divisions,” said the official.
The national picture suggests there are still 23 monsoon sub-divisions, primarily in central and northern regions of the country, that have received deficient rainfall this year. Only three sub-divisions (in Karnataka and Gujarat) have reported excess rainfall, while 10 sub-divisions (from southern parts) have reported normal average rainfall between June 1 and September 30, the IMD data show. The country has so far received 689.8 mm rain, which is almost 23 per cent less than the average normal rainfall of 892.2 mm.
Although the water level in Kurnool, which bore the brunt yesterday, receded by a feet today, the overall flood situation in Andhra Pradesh continued to be alarming.
Water from Srisailam reservoir continued to flow above the danger level due to heavy inflows. The water level in the reservoir had gone 11 feet above its full storage level to 896 feet before it started receding on Saturday evening.
With the Krishna river in spate, the road between Hyderabad and Srisailam and Hyderabad and Kurnool have been cut. Bus services to these areas were stopped and many train services between Hyderabad and Bangalore and other places were cancelled.
A level-two alert has been announced at Prakasam barrage in Vijayawada in Krishna district. The inflow at Prakasam barrage has been 600,000 cusecs and is expected to reach 800,000 cusecs by midnight. Several villages in Krishna and adjoining Guntur districts have been flooded and people from low-lying areas have been evacuated to safer places.
Meanwhile, power generation at Nagarjunasagar was stalled at 3 pm and all the powerhouse gates were lifted. The employees were shifted out of the plant. Power generation at Srisailam was also stopped on Friday.
Chief minister K Rosaiah convened an emergency meeting of his Cabinet on Saturday to review the flood situation. He said all possible measures were being taken to mitigate the plight of the affected people. Over 400,000 food packets were distributed on Saturday and 250 doctors were mobilised to treat the people.
Rosaiah said he had also urged Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa to hold water in Almatti and Narayanpur reservoirs to the maximum possible levels before releasing downstream to the reservoirs in the state.
The Andhra Pradesh government has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 1,00,000 to the kin of the families. It has also extended the holidays at government offices and schools and rain-affected districts.
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