VIJAYAWADA: With Krishna river expected to receive heavy inflows at Prakasam Barrage, District Collector A MD Imtiaz has directed officials concerned to shift sand stored at reaches to safer locations.
He inspected the Kasarabad sand reach in Chandarlapadu Mandal on Tuesday and was accompanied by Assistant Director of Mines Subramaneswara Rao.
Speaking on the occasion, Imitaz said around 4 lakh cusecs of floodwater from Nagarjuna Sagar project was expected to reach Prakasam Barrage soon, which called for the immediate shifting of the sand to safer locations so as to avoid its scarcity in the near future.
He also made it clear that there was no sand shortage in the district and called on the public to enrol themselves in an online portal so that they could avail sand on a first-come, first-served basis. So far, 1,300 cubic metres of sand has been supplied and nearly 1,000 cubic metres more was stored at stockyards in Chevitikallu, Kasarabad, Kanchala and Sengapadu, he added.
The collector further instructed the officials to shift people in low-lying areas of Jaggayyapet Mandal to rehabilitation centres, and prevent loss of human lives. Commenting on the immersion of Ganesh idols into Krishna River, Imitiaz directed the officials to ensure completion of immersion procedure during the day in view of the floods and let the public in villages know about the same.