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Bhadrachalam battles flooding after 32 years
The water level in Godavari at Bhadrachalam already crossed the last danger mark of 53.9 feet on July 11 and has been steadily increasing since then. The temple town was cut off from the rest of Telangana, with the district authorities suspending transport on the bridge connecting the town with Sarapaka on the western side.
After a gap of nearly 32 years, the temple town of Bhadrachalam in Telangana’s Bhadradri Kothagudem district has been marooned in flood waters, as the water level in the Godavari river touched 70 ft by Friday evening.
“The water level is expected to reach up to 75 ft by Friday night or Saturday morning, the highest since 1986. Already several areas in the temple town are inundated in flood water and we are taking all precautionary measures to shift the people to safer locations,” state transport minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar told Hindustan Times.
The water level in Godavari at Bhadrachalam already crossed the last danger mark of 53.9 feet on July 11 and has been steadily increasing since then. The temple town was cut off from the rest of Telangana, with the district authorities suspending transport on the bridge connecting the town with Sarapaka on the western side.
At the same time, the Godavari water cut off the road transport from Bhadrachalam towards Charla and Kukunoor, as the water submerged the surrounding villages, resulting in marooning of the temple town on all sides.
The maximum flood level recorded at Bhadrachalam so far was 75.6 ft on August 16, 1986, when several villages were washed away, rendering thousands of people homeless. In 1990, there were huge floods to the river again up to the level of 70.8 ft.
“This is the second highest level of Godavari at Bhadrachalam so far. If the level exceeds 75 ft, it will be the biggest-ever flood in the state,” the minister said.
Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao who held a telephonic talk with chief secretary Somesh Kumar on Friday morning, asked him to arrange a helicopter to take up rescue and relief measures in Bhadrachalam.
The chief secretary said the state government had already pressed into service all wings of the government to take relief and protection measures in the flood afected areas. Teams of NDRF and helicopters including rescue teams are ready to carry out relief and rescue measures in low-lying areas affected by unexpected floods.
Apart from arranging a helicopter, life jackets, which are useful for taking part in relief measures, have already been dispatched to save the people in flood-hit areas.
Meanwhile, the chief secretary spoke to the Indian Army officials and requested them to provide assistance in the flood affected Bhadradri Kothagudem district. Accordingly, 101 men of whom 68 from the Infantry, 10 Medical professionals and 23 engineers left for the flood ravaged areas of the district, an official release said.
The tourism department also dispatched four special boats along with men to Bhadradri district to assist in rescue and relief operations. The fire department also dispatched seven boats along with 210 life jackets and life boys.
The government deputed Singareni Colleries managing director N Sridhar as special officer to monitor the relief operations in the district. The infrastructure available with the Singareni Colleries will be pressed into service at Bhadrachalam for flood relief operations. He said all steps would be taken to prevent loss of life due to floods.
In Mulugu district, too, where the Godavari river has crossed danger levels, the officials sounded a red alert and shifted the people in low-lying hamlets to safer zones.
Meanwhile, bodies of two persons, including that of a Telugu television channel reporter, who were washed away in flash floods in Nizamabad and Jagitial districts were recovered by the rescue teams on Friday morning.
Jagan conducts aerial survey
Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy conducted an aerial survey in the flood affected areas of East Godavari, West Godavari and Konaseema districts and later held a video conference with senior officials.
He instructed that a senior IAS officer be appointed in each of the affected districts to oversee rescue and rehabilitation activities and extend relief to the affected people on war footing.
Special chief secretary (disaster management) G Sai Prasad said the third danger signal was sounded at Dowleshwaram barrage on Godavari river and the inflow and outflow of water at the barrage by Friday evening was 19.23 lakh cusecs. It might rise up to 23 lakh cusecs on Saturday.
Jagan instructed the officials to evacuate people in all the island villages of Konaseema and see that river bunds be strengthened to prevent any breaches. In all, nine NDRF and 10 SDRF teams have been pressed into service to take up rescue operations.
The chief minister directed that all the needy families be paid ₹2,000 each towards relief, apart from the supply of all essential commodities.
