KHAMMAM: With officials expecting the water level at Bhadrachalam to rise to 75 to 80 feet due to the Godavari continuing to receive inflows, residents of the temple town are living in the grip of fear.
District Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar informed Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar and district Collectors during a teleconference that the water level is expected to reach 75 to 80 feet in the next 24 hours. T
he Minister informed about 30 lakh cusecs of water is entering the Godavari from upper catchment areas.
Already, people living in many parts of the temple town and villages had been evacuated when the water level reached 60 feet. People living in higher ground have now started to worry that they may be forced to move to safety.
The highest water level recorded at Bhadrachalam was in 1986 when it reached 75.6 ft. At that time, about three-fourths of the town was submerged. That flood led to a high number of casualties and massive property damage.
Now, the question uppermost in the minds of the people is whether the flood bank would hold up against the raging river. “Already, due to backwaters and poor maintenance of sluice gates, four colonies and parts of the temple are submerged. If the water level rises above the 70-ft mark, what would be the situation? How much danger are we actually facing?” asked K Narayana Rao, a retired Irrigation engineer.
Minister Ajay Kumar said that as many as 5,000 sandbags have been kept ready as part of measures to tackle the flood. “How will the government protect the entire town with 5,000 sandbags? Can they stop the waters from causing massive destruction,” asked N Srikanth, a resident of Ayyappa Colony. He said that the officials have installed small motors at the sluices which are unable to pump the water back into the river.
The officials failed to instal motors at Subhashnagar and Reedysatram where there are two sluices. Due to backwaters not being pumped back into the river fr-om these sluices, Ayyappa Colony, Ash-oknagar and Subashnagar and Mudiraj Bazaar are under a sheet of water.