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Northern Telangana on high alert due to rising level of Godavari River
The Telangana government placed the state’s northern districts on high alert due to heavy inflows into Godavari river, posing a threat of inundation to several low-lying areas, an official statement said.
The Telangana government placed the state’s northern districts on high alert due to heavy inflows into Godavari river, posing a threat of inundation to several low-lying areas, an official statement said.
State chief secretary Shanti Kumari, who reviewed the flood situation in Godavari through teleconference on Monday afternoon, said the India Meteorological Department (IMD) warned of heavy rains in the next three days across the state, particularly in the northern parts of the state.
She asked the district authorities to rope in forces of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), besides taking the assistance of the police, fire services department and irrigation department officials to rescue the people in the flood-hit areas.
The chief secretary asked the authorities to take all possible steps to prevent any loss of life and minimise the property loss on account of floods.
Officials informed that Godavari river had crossed the second flood warning level of 48 feet at Bhadrachalam on Monday afternoon. The first flood warning is issued when the river crosses 43-feet mark. “By Tuesday, there is a possibility of issuing the third warning level, when the water level crosses 53-feet mark,” Bhadradri Kothagudem district collector Jitesh V Patil said.
He said people living in the flood-prone, riverside villages in the tribal majority district have been asked to move to safer places. Relief camps have been set up in the temple town and elsewhere in the district.
“We have started evacuating people residing in flood prone areas to the relief camps as a safety precaution with all the tributaries of the Godavari in spate,” the collector said.
The floods to Godavari river resulted in snapping of road connectivity to dozens of villages in Dummugudem and Charla mandals with swollen forest streams submerging low-level culverts in various parts of Bhadrachalam tribal belt.
Mulugu district collector TS Divakara said: “Teams of NDRF and SDRF had been kept on high alert to face any kind of eventuality on account of floods. As many as 77 villages along the Godavari river course were identified as problematic and steps were being taken to evacuate people in the affected areas.”
Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) also issued a first level warning at the Dowleswaram barrage due to heavy floodwater inflows into the Godavari river.
APSDMA managing director R Kurmanadh on Monday said the authorities were releasing 11.36 lakh cusecs of water at the Dowleswaram barrage following intense rainfall over the past week. The second level warning could be issued by Monday night. “The situation is being continuously monitored from APSDMA’s state control room,” Kurmanadh stated in a press release.
He urged residents living in the riparian stretches of the Godavari to remain vigilant and advised them to contact control room toll-free numbers 1070, 112, and 1800-425-0101 in case of emergencies.
