Godavari still in spate, leaves over 30 villages inundated

: A surge of the flood in Godavari river on Friday evening left over 30 villages in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh inundated.

The district administration is on constant vigil and making arrangements for possible evacuation of people from the villages if the flood-level rises further.

East Godavari district joint collector Lakshmisha told PTI over phone that the situation remained under control as of now though the flood-level was apparently increasing.

"In the morning, the flood receded and again started increasing by late evening. Thankfully, the rain has stopped but we have kept everything ready to possibly shift the people to safer places, Lakshmisha said.

Essential commodities, including milk, were being supplied to the affected villagers through the Civil Supplies Department.

Road communication and power supply to the marooned villages, however, remained cut off.

Inflow at Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage at Dowaleswaram remained steady since Friday evening at 7.12 lakh cusecs.

The water resources department personnel have been discharging 7.11 lakh cusecs from the barrage into the Bay of Bengal.

At the under-construction Polavaram, upstream of the Cotton Barrage, floodwater was being let out over the spillway to alleviate the threat of submergence of villages in the project area, water resources department said.

With river Krishna on the other side, an average of over 1.93 lakh cusecs of water was flowing into the Srisailam reservoir following heavy discharge from upstream reservoirs of Almatti, Narayanpur and Jurala.

About 2.30 lakh cusecs of water was being discharged from Almatti in Karnataka while 1.87 lakh cusecs was flowing from downstream Jurala into Srisailam.

The Andhra Pradesh Weather Forecasting and Early Warning Research Centre (Aware) issued a moderate to heavy rainfall warning, valid till August 5, for five coastal districts of the state.

Fishermen have been warned not to venture into the sea as the conditions in the Bay of Bengal would be rough, with tides touching a height of 2.5 to 4 metres, Aware said in a press release.

Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari and West Godavari would receive moderate to heavy rainfall under the influence of monsoon low, with gusty winds of 50-70 kmph.