VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said unprecedented heavy rains from November 16, led to flooding and devastation of Chittoor, Kadapa, Anantapur and Nellore districts.Making a statement on the torrential rains and the extent of devastation in the State Assembly on Friday, he said 44 people died and 16 went missing in floods. As many as 1,990 villages in 199 mandals of the four districts were badly affected.
Lambasting Opposition Leader N Chandrababu Naidu for criticising him for not visiting the flood-affected areas, Jagan said he has been closely monitoring relief operations after conducting an aerial survey of the rain-hit districts. “What is more important? Immediate rescue and relief operations in flood affected districts or my visit to those places? As the first is most important, we have focused on it,” he asserted.
Jagan said though he wanted to visit the affected districts, senior officials advised him against it as it could hamper relief and rescue operations.“For me, every village is important, and Kadapa, being my native district, is even more. However, to ensure that relief measures continue without a hitch and the official machinery does not shift its focus due to my visit, I have postponed my visit to the flood- affected areas,” he explained.
Unlike Naidu, who exploited every opportunity for publicity even at the cost of obstruction to relief and rescue operations during Hudhud and Titli cyclones, Jagan said he restrained himself from visiting the flood-affected places in Rayalaseema.
“Have you ever seen Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Odisha, which faces cyclones and floods frequently, rushing to the calamity-hit areas? He does not, so as to allow officials to effectively implement rescue and relief operations,” he observed. The Chief Minister also explained the reasons that led to the flooding in Rajampet.
The Pincha project was receiving inflows of just 3,845 cusecs at 8.30 am on November 18, which abnormally increased to 90,464 cusecs by 8.30 pm on the same day. In 24 hours (from 8 am on Thursday), 51 mandals received an average rainfall of 10.7 cm. Further, the rains that lashed Seshachalam Hills in Tirupati and other parts of Chittoor district resulted in heavy inflows into Cheyyeru catchment area. Heavy rains in Piler and Rayachoti at the same time led to further increase in inflows.
Pincha is the first project on Cheyyeru, followed by Annamayya located downstream.Pincha received over 1.38 lakh cusecs of inflows against its discharge capacity of 58,000 cusecs. Consequently, a breach occurred at Pincha and all the floodwater flowed into Annamayya project downstream. “By early morning of November 19, inflows into Annamayya project crossed 3.2 lakh cusecs against its discharge capacity of 2.17 lakh cusecs, which resulted in a breach to the bund, causing a deluge, he explained.
Showing a news clipping from a vernacular paper, he said officials alerted the villages in the downstream of Annamayya project on November 18 midnight itself. As many as 400 families living in low-lying areas were shifted to safer places. The preparedness of the Kadapa district administration and its efforts had saved several thousands of lives, he said.
Explaining further, he said four buses got stuck in floodwater on Nandaluru bridge on November 19 and one of them fell into the river. Ten people died in the incident, while SDRF teams rescued 45 passengers. About 10 devotees performing puja marking Karthika Masam at a Shiva temple on the banks of Cheyyeru downstream of Annamayya project were washed away in the deluge.Giving details of the destruction, he said 1,169 houses were completely damaged and 5,434 partially damaged. About 25 NDRF and SDRF teams, two helicopters, 22 boats and 560 personnel were deployed for relief and rescue operations.
A sum of Rs 2,000 each was provided to 79,590 people who were shifted to 319 relief camps, as an immediate relief. As part of an aid package, essential commodities were also distributed to the rain-hit people. All the affected families returned to their homes after the rains subsided, the Chief Minister elaborated.
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