A sigh of relief as flood waters recede

Khammam: Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar on Friday informed that Munneru river flood level was receding and that the situation was under control. Five lakh cusecs of extraordinary flooding were recorded in the river.

He thanked the district officers and workers who dealt with the flood issue and noted that the flood level had never crossed 30 feet in the history of the river. Accompanied by MLA K Upender Reddy and BRS district president MLC Tata Madhusudhan, he briefed the media that 2,095 flood-affected people were relocated from 665 residences in low-lying portions of the city’s Munneru catchment area to relief centres.

The State government established four relief camps in Khammam. 78 people were rescued from various colonies throughout the city by the NDRF teams.

Ajay Kumar thanked Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao for dispatching NDRF personnel as soon as a request was made, noting that 485 people had been relocated in Wyra, Kusumanchi, Nelakondapally, and Khammam rural mandals. The NDRF crew was detoured to Khammam from its original destination of Kothagudem. When the team finally arrived, it was already getting dark, and everyone was concerned for the welfare of those who were trapped in the river. The crew saved everyone, including infants as young as six months old and senior citizens, the minister said and thanked the NDRF teams. The minister expressed regret over washing away of one P Sathish. He had disregarded officials’ warning not to enter the floodwater and was swept away in the rushing waters at Naidupet in the city on Thursday.

As the floodwaters subsided, the minister promised that sanitation would begin in right earnest in the affected areas and that the government would take decisive action to prevent the spread of viral fevers.

District Collector VP Gautham, Commissioner of Police Vishnu S Warrier, SUDA chairman B Vijay Kumar, Mayor P Neeraja, and Municipal Commissioner Adarsh Surabhi were present.