NE NEWS SERVICE
AMARAVATI, AUG 16
The swollen Godavari river continued to cause flood havoc in East and West Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh on Sunday as tens of villages lay marooned even as three teams of State Disaster Response Force have been deployed for rescue and relief operations.
A total of 3,340 people have been moved to 16 relief camps in the two districts so far.
Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy reviewed the situation with top officials and directed the Collectors of the two districts to remain on high alert and ensure there was no loss of lives due to the calamity.
A release from the CMO said Jagan Mohan Reddy asked the Collectors to constantly coordinate with the State Disaster Management Authority and take required measures for rescue and relief of the affected people.
Two teams of SDRF personnel have been deployed in West Godavari and one in East.
One more team of SDRF was also moved to Rajamahendravaram where the urban mandal has been affected.
The third warning signal has been raised as the Godavari flood level reached 53 feet by Sunday evening, West Godavari district Collector Revu Mutyalaraju said.
The flood water discharge at Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage at Dowaleswaram crossed 15.58 lakh cusecs at 8 pm on Sunday, according to the SDMA.
The East Godavari district administration moved 1,796 persons to seven relief camps under Rampachodavaram and Yetapaka divisions.
In the neighbouring West, nine relief camps have been opened where 1,544 people were accommodated.
In all, 27,073 people in 64 villages were left marooned in West Godavari, according to the district Collector.
“We are supplying food and drinking water besides essential commodities to the affected people,” Mutyalaraju said.
No casualties or damages to houses have been reported yet while enumeration of crop loss has to be taken up.
Preliminary estimates said horticulture crops in 282 hectares in East Godavari were affected due to the flood.
Devipatnam is the worst hit as 36 villages in the mandal were fully marooned.
Besides road connectivity, power supply to these villages too has been cut.
East Godavari district Collector Muralidhar Reddy said 32 special teams have been constituted to oversee rescue and relief operations in the affected mandals and villages.
He said eight medical camps were organised in Devipatnam mandal to treat the affected people.
The SDRF teams brought in boats and other equipment to evacuate people to safety.
A team of the National Disaster Response Force from Visakhapatnam is also being moved to Yetapaka in East Godavari.
In West Godavari, over 38 villages under Polavaram, Velerupadu and Kukkunoor mandals remained cut off due to the flood surge.
The Kademma outfall sluice near Polavaram remained submerged as a result of which agriculture fields in tens of acres downstream got inundated.
Meanwhile, the Prakasam Barrage on river Krishna at Vijayawada received a flood of 1.56 lakh cusecs on Sunday and the authorities discharged 1.32 lakh cusecs into the sea.
Incessant rains in the last three days caused heavy flooding from Muniyeru rivulet, filling the Prakasam Barrage to the brim (3.07 tmc ft).
As the flood flow is expected to increase, Vijayawada Municipal Corporation Commissioner V Prasanna Venkatesh asked people residing in low-lying areas downstream the barrage to take adequate precautions.
