Godavari flood water marks 3rd warning level

Bhadrachalam : Flood water in Godavari river was marked at 53 ft in the evening hours of Saturday; the officials announced a third warning level. Tt was expected that the third warning level would come in the afternoon of Sunday due flood water released by the projects at upper catchment areas in the State.

Meanwhile, officials shifted the flood victims from low-lying colonies in Bhadrachalam. They set up 22 flood relief centres in nine mandals; the flood has affected 45 villages under 30 revenue villages in nine mandals.

Officials had issued a second warning late on Friday night after the water level crossed 48 ft. Water level was 50.50 ft at 6 am on Saturday with a discharge of 12.86 lakh cusecs and at 9 am it came to 51.40 ft with a discharge of 13.37 lakh cusecs.

At 10 am, the water level increased to 51.50 ft with a discharge of 13.43 lakh cusecs.

The rise in water level was due to heavy inflows into the river from its upper catchment area in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.

Officials lifted 20 gates of Taliperu project in Cherla mandal to release 30,160 cusecs of excess water into Godavari. Kinnerasani reservoir at Paloncha was also receiving inflows due to rains in its catchment.

Low lying areas in Cherla, Burgampad, and Dummugudem mandals in the district have been inundated and floodwater entered houses in several villages compelling the residents to move to relief centres.

Meanwhile, the district administration opened control rooms at the Sub Collector Office and ITDA office to respond to the situation. The district Collector Jitesh V Patil monitored the situation, alerting people living in low-lying areas.

The road’s connectivity was closed due to floods from Bhadrachalam to all agency mandals. “The government has allocated a helicopter for emergencies,” said Patil. Due to overflowing flood water on the roads, the RTC stopped their services for the past two days.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao visited Bhadrachalam and observed the flood situation. He interacted with district officers and ordered them to identify the places that would be affected with floods and immediately shift the people.