KHAMMAM/MULUGU/ADILABAD/KARIMNAGAR: The Godavari at Bhadrachalam rose to 48 feet, prompting authorities to issue the second flood warning even as the rain-induced situation across Telangana worsened on Friday.
Officials indicated that the Godavari levels could touch 53 feet by night, triggering the third and final warning. Rising river levels, heavy inflows and incessant rain also prompted fresh alerts in Mulugu and disrupted normal life in several districts.
Officials said around 11.44 lakh cusecs of floodwater was being discharged downstream from Bhadrachalam.
Although the river remained below danger levels for habitation, the district administration set up 49 relief and rehabilitation centres across Bhadradri Kothagudem district as a precaution. No evacuations had been carried out till Friday evening as floodwaters had not entered Bhadrachalam town.
In Mulugu district, the Godavari continued to rise at the Ramannagudem Pushkar Ghats in Eturunagaram mandal, where authorities issued the third flood warning after the river reached 17.18 metres. Heavy rainfall in upstream areas of Telangana and Maharashtra kept the river in spate, while several villages in the agency mandals of Eturunagaram and Mangapet remained cut off due to overflowing streams and causeways.
Traffic on National Highway-163 between Telangana and Chhattisgarh was disrupted after an overflowing stream inundated a stretch of the road in Wazeedu mandal. Authorities barricaded the area and stopped motorists from attempting to cross the flooded section. Residents living along the Godavari and Jampanna Vagu were advised to remain vigilant.
In Adilabad district, heavy rain and rising water levels in the Penganga River raised concerns among farmers in Jainath, Bela and Bhoraj mandals, who fear damage to newly germinated cotton and soybean crops.
Flood-related restoration works gathered pace across the erstwhile Karimnagar district, where heavy rain damaged roads, electricity infrastructure and civic amenities. Authorities took up repairs to damaged roads, removed fallen tree branches and restored power supply in affected areas. In Jagtial district, officials inspected rain-hit villages where culverts had collapsed and a road-cum-bund had been breached.
44 workers rescued
In Bhadradri Kothagudem district, 44 workers stranded on a sandbank near the Veerapuram sand ramp in Charla mandal were rescued safely after a four-hour operation.
The workers had crossed the Godavari in the morning to carry out routine work at a sand dumping yard but were trapped after the river rose rapidly and floodwaters surrounded the sandbank. They alerted nearby villagers over the phone, following which rescue teams launched an operation using flood rescue boats and heavy machinery. All 44 workers were brought to safety without any casualties.