KHAMMAM/ADILABAD: The central team which arrived in the State to assess the damages caused by recent ra-ins and floods visited Bhadra-dri Kothagudem, Nirmal and Adilabad districts on Friday.
A four-member team comprising finance ministry deputy secretary Parthiban, Dire-ctor of Agriculture, cooperation and farmers’ welfare K Manoharan, Central Water Commission director Ramesh Kumar and national highways authority SE Shiv Kumar Kushvaha visited Sanjeevareddypalem, Burgampad areas of Bhadradri Kothagudem district and made an assessment of the damages to crops, houses, roads and the Mission Bhagiratha project.
The team members interacted with farmers who suffered losses due to the floods in Sanjeevareddypalem village. G Bhaskar Reddy, a farmer from the village, informed them that he cultivated cotton crop in 15 acres but lost all his crops in the recent floods.
Earlier, Collector D Anude-ep briefed the team on the extent of damage caused in the district using a Powerpoint presentation at the ITDA office. He pegged the losses to various departments at `129 crore. The officials were informed of crop damage in 10,831 acres in the district.
The Collector informed th-em that the water level in the Godavari river at Bhadrachalam touched 70 ft this time, which is the second highest si-nce 1986, but there was no loss of human life or livestock. The team members informed the district administration that a detailed report on the damages would be submitted to the Union government for further action.
Panchayati Raj & Rural Development director M Hanumantha Rao, Khammam Collector VP Gautham, ITDA project officer P Gotham and ASP B Rohith Raju, among others were also present. Meanwhile, a three-member team led by Saurav Ray, Joint Secretary, CEPI, Ministry of Home Affairs inspected the flood-affected areas in Nirmal and Adilabad districts. The team first inspected the Kadam project site and breaches of the canal bund.
They also saw a photo exhibition on the recent floods arranged by the district administration in Utnoor. Adilabad Collector Sikta Patnaik and Additional Collector Rizwan Basha Sheik gave a presentation on the havoc. Later in the day, the team also visited Indervalli, Kupti villages and interacted with the farmers.
They were informed of the crop damage of Rs 172.8 crore in 1,03,305 acres affecting 29,805 farmers in 363 villages.
AP officials may lift Srisailam gates today
With heavy inflows, the Srisailam project has reached 92 per cent of its capacity and Andhra Pradesh officials may lift the dam gates by Saturday morning. As against the full reservoir level of 215.81 tmcft, Srisailam has 198.36 tmcft at 6 pm on Friday. The inflows are 1,62,726 cusecs at 6 pm. If one lakh cusecs flow into the project continuously for 24 hours, it will get around 8.5 tmcft. If the present inflows continue, the gates may be lifted to keep some cushion in the project, sources said.