Krishna, Godavari in spate in AP; Nearly 10,000 people shifted

Close to 10,000 people have been moved to relief camps in Guntur and Krishna districts of Andhra Pradesh as inflow of about 8 lakh cusecs into river Krishna affected life in several mandals on Friday, even as the second warning signal was issued at Prakasam Barrage.

According to the State Disaster Management Authority, one person was confirmed dead in Guntur district while a girl was reported missing in neighbouring Krishna in the floods.

On the other hand, river Godavari saw a revival in flood surge on Friday with 7.74 lakh cusecs of water flowing into the Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage at Dowaleswaram.

As the flood flow was increasing, authorities issued a high alert in Krishna and Guntur districts.

The Puligadda aqueduct at Avanigadda is overflowing, cutting off the road network in the Diviseema region of Krishna district.

National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response and Fire Services personnel have been deployed in Krishna and Guntur districts for rescue and relief operations.

Expert swimmers from the SDRF have been deployed in Guntur district.

Authorities opened 41 relief camps in Krishna district and accommodated 8,100 people while eight camps were set up in Guntur district for 1619 people, the SDMA said.

Food packets and drinking water have been arranged for the affected people.

Dachepalli, Machavaram, Gurazala, Atchampeta, Amaravati, Tulluru mandals in the downstream of Dr K L Rao Sagar Pulichintala in Guntur district were affected by the flood.

From Pulichintala, 8.01 lakh cusecs of water was being discharged downstream resulting in an inflow of 7.57 lakh cusecs at Prakasam Barrage in Vijayawada.

From the barrage, 7.63 lakh cusecs of water is being let out into the Bay of Bengal.

Consequent to the flood surge at Prakasam Barrage, downstream mandals like Tadepalli, Duggirala, Kolluru, Bhattiprolu and Repalle in Guntur district are largedly affected.

Also, the low-lying areas in Vijayawada city, villages in Thotlavalluru and Avanigadda mandals in Krishna district were marooned.

The SDMA said 537 houses were marooned in Guntur district and 315 in Krishna.

Agriculture crops have largely been inundated in 935 hectares and 678 hectares in Krishna and Guntur districts while horticulture crops in 791 ha and 654 acres have also been flooded, it said.

Meanwhile, after receding for the last four days, flood flow in Godavari increased suddenly on Friday, trapping scores of villages in Devipatnam and Polavaram mandals in East and West Godavari districts in water.

With more water flowing from the upstream, the flood level in Godavari is expected to increase.