Flood surge continues across Godavari, Krishna rivers in Andhra Pradesh

The first warning signal has been raised as floods in river Krishna crossed the four lakh cusecs mark at Prakasam Barrage in Vijayawada on Friday.

In river Godavari at Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage in Dowaleswaram near Rajamahendravaram, the flood flow remained steady at 14.76 lakh cusecs (cubic foot of water flow per second), going past the second danger level.

According to the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority, the flood level showed a marginal decrease at upstream Bhadrachalam in Telangana on Friday afternoon, with signs of a further decline over the next few hours.

SDMA Managing Director B R Ambedkar said people along the Krishna riverbanks should remain on alert as the flood level might increase.

The administrative machinery has been put on alert in the flood-prone areas along the river, he said.

Three teams each of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the SDRF have been carrying out rescue and relief operations in Alluri Sitarama Raju, Eluru and B R Ambedkar Konaseema districts.

Ambedkar appealed to people in the deluge-hit habitations in Godavari region to cooperate with the authorities and move to safer places as the second warning has been continuing.

The impact of Godavari flood is being felt much in BR Ambedkar Konaseema, Eluru and Alluri Sitarama Raju districts where there are many lanka (island) villages.

Besides, the submergence mandals under the Polavaram project are facing a high threat from the deluge.

The situation in Velerupadu, V R Puram and Kukunoor mandals is said to be particularly grim, according to reports from the affected areas. Problems faced by people in these areas are are compounded as they have not yet recovered from the damage wrecked by the floods last month.

The causeways were overflowing at several places in BR Ambedkar Konaseema district, snapping road communication links to many villages.

In Vijayawada city, some houses on the Krishna riverbed remained marooned as the flood flow touched 4.57 lakh cusecs on Friday afternoon.

But the situation may ease as discharge from Dr K L Rao Sagar Pulichintala upstream Prakasam Barrage appeared to be coming down.

According to the AP Water Resources Information Management System data, Pulichintala currently has a flood cushion of 13.27 thousand million cubic feet. However, outflow from Nagarjuna Sagar dam further up has risen to 4.25 lakh cusecs and will reach Dr K L Rao Sagar in a few hours.

The Srisailam reservoir has been filled to the brim, touching 215.08 tmc ft, consequent to which 4.36 lakh cusecs of water is being discharged, the data showed.