KHAMMAM: Due to heavy rains in the upper catchment area of the Godavari river, the water at Bhadrachalam has remained close to the first flood warning level for the past two days.
On Wednesday at 6 pm, due to huge inflows from the Taliperu project, the water was seen at 41.5 feet, only one-and-a-half feet lower than the first warning level. As many as 25 gates of the project were lifted on Wednesday, releasing 1,60,000 cusecs of water. It may be noted that the Godavari has reached the second warning level of 48 feet at least three times in the recent past.
Heavy rains wreaked havoc on the movement of vehicles across the district on Wednesday. The road from Bhadrachalam to Venkatapuram was flooded near Parnasala village, bringing traffic to a standstill. The overflowing Isukavagu and Melavagu rivulets cut off nearly 10 villages from the district headquarters.
Elsewhere, several trucks travelling between Hyderabad and Chhattisgarh were stranded on NH30 due to flooding. Meanwhile, the district administration has issued alerts to people living in low-lying areas. All mandal-level officials have been asked to monitor the situation closely and not leave their stations for the time being.