HYDERABAD/BHADRACHALAM: A sense of panic has gripped the over one lakh people living in Bhadrachalam and other villages with the Godavari rising to 71.2 ft at 12 am on Saturday after 32 years. Their panic has a reason – chances of the water breaching the flood bank go up multiple folds once the water level touches the 75 ft mark.
The previous highest levels recorded were 70.8 ft on August 24, 1990 and 75.6 ft on August 16, 1986. On Friday, the discharge from Bhadrachalam was 22.76 lakh cusecs, rising to 24.24 lakh cusecs by 9 pm, 24,34,059 cusecs by 11 pm and 24,38,872 cusecs at midnight.
Water from the Godavari has already inundated about 40 per cent area of Bhadrachalam town and, based on the inflows, officials expect it to touch a record 80 ft by Saturday. In such a scenario, the Godavari inundate around 70 per cent area of Bhadrachalam town and all the citizens would have to climb to the first and second floor of their residences to save themselves. “We did not cook today, as we are tense. We ate some leftover food,” a woman in Yetipaka village said.
Apart from Bhadrachalam, the abode of Sri Rama, Dummugudem, Cherla, Aswapuram, Manuguru, Pinapaka and Burgampadu are also flooded. Besides, several villages like Yetipaka and others, which were merged from Telangana to Andhra Pradesh too are in danger.
“All the villagers are scared. I have never seen such huge floods after 1986. The officials constructed a bund after 1986 floods, but we now see leakages,” several women said.A person Meka Venkata Narasaiah (40) went missing after a country boat, in which he was travelling overturned, in Burgampadu. However, the NDRF team rescued nine others in the boat.
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao who reviewed the situation, sent 10 NDRF teams, five Army teams and rescue teams of Singareni to Bhadrachalam. One chopper of the Indian Air Force too has been kept ready for rescue operations. “We are fully equipped and have taken all precautionary measures to avoid human loss,” Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar, who is continuously monitoring the flood situation, said.
Many colonies, including the Sub-Collector’s office in Bhadrachalam have been submerged in the backwaters of the river. The CRPF camp at Kunavaram, established some 12 years ago to tackle Maoist menace, too was submerged in floodwaters.
The locals alleged that several colonies in the town were submerged due to the negligence of officials in pumping the backwaters into the river. Locals alleged that inexperienced officers and peoples’ representatives were unable to manage the situation.“The government should send some experienced officials who can effectively manage the flood,” people in Bhadrachalam said.
Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar deputed four more Revenue Divisional Officers (RDOs) to Bhadrachalam to assist the district administration in relief activities. “We are sending four more NDRF teams, boats, buses and trucks to Bhadrachalam tonight,” Somesh Kumar said.Road connectivity has been cut to hundreds of villages, marooning Bhadrachalam.
ITC Paper Boards Company has stopped production after flood water entered the premises at Sarapaka. Floodwaters entered into the Bhadradri power plant near Manuguru. About 12,000 people were shifted to 48 flood shelters from 60 villages. According to information about 60 villages in flood affected areas are under flood water. Officials rescued about 50 persons who were trapped in a water tank near Gundala in Andhra Pradesh.
Senior citizens who witnessed more than 20 floods said that the present officers were unable to understand the flood situation and were taking decisions unilaterally. K Rama Rao said flood management is very poor.
Meanwhile, pump houses and motors of the Kaleshwaram project were still under floodwaters. However, the officials said that they would restore the motors by December and lift water for Rabi. The officials said that due to heavy floods, there is no need to lift water from Kaleshwaram for the present Kharif crops.Meanwhile, Srisailam project was receiving huge inflows of 2.45 lah cusecs. The present water level at Srisailam was 65.05 tmcft.
Grave situation
Apart from the abode of Sri Rama, Dummugudem, Cherla, Aswapuram, Manuguru, Pinapaka and Burgampadu on the banks of the Godavari are also flooded
Floodwaters enter Bhadradri power plant
ITC Paper Boards Company has stopped production after flood water entered the premises at Sarapaka. Floodwaters entered the Bhadradri power plant near Manuguru. About 12,000 people were shifted to 48 flood shelters from 60 villages. According to information about 60 villages in flood affected areas are under flood water.