VIJAYAWADA : Godavari region, including Polavaram backwater areas, has been placed on high alert following heavy inflows into the river on Saturday. According to River Conservator G Srinivasa Rao, the current water level at the Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage in Dowleswaram is 11.50 feet.
Godavari district authorities are set to issue the first flood warning as the water level is expected to touch 11.75 feet.
The first flood warning was already issued at Bhadrachalam, where the water level touched 43 feet on Saturday morning. Inflows at Polavaram and Cotton Barrage have reached 9.50 lakh cusecs, and are likely to exceed 10 lakh cusecs by tonight.
Eluru Collector Vetri Selvi ordered shifting people living in low-lying areas. A high alert has also been sounded in the submerged mandals of Chinturu, Yetapaka, Kunavaram and VR Puram in Alluri Sitarama Raju district.