Floodwater threatens crops in Andhra Pradesh's Konaseema district

KAKINADA: Godavari floodwater levels are rising alarmingly in Dr BR Ambedkar Konaseema district, which is located downstream of Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage at Dowleswaram and major portion of the distributories of the river are spread across the district.

The water level increased several times on Thursday when compared to Wednesday and it is expected to increase further by Friday. Already, several lanka villages are facing inundation and power outages.

SDRF personnel rescued several persons from the water-logged villages using boats and shifted them to relief camps. I&PR Minister Ch Veugopala Krishna, Amalapuram MP Anuradha, local MLAs, Collector Himanshu Shukla and other district officials visited flood-affected villages on boats and monitored the situation. The district officials have arranged 43 relief centres and shifted people from 51 flood-hit villages there.

On the other hand, around 200 hectare of paddy nursery and 2,842 hectares of horticulture crops have been inundated in the district affecting 7,217 farmers, said agriculture officer Y Anand Kumari.

Floodwater has stagnated in coconut, banana and vegetable farms in Amalapuram, Ainavilli, Razole, Kothapeta and Ramachandrapuram mandals.The Konaseema farmers have been experiencing losses since the Kharif season in 2020. Paddy crop was damaged during 2020 and 2021 also due to heavy rains and clogged canals.