Waters recede but AP villages isolated
Rains in Maharashtra are likely to bring huge inflows in Andhra's main rivers.
The water level in the Godavari and Krishna rivers, which were in spate for two days, have begun to recede but hundreds of villages in Andhra Pradesh's 10 districts remained isolated on Thursday.
Around 58 people have died in the floods, which has also inflicted losses worth Rs 18 billion, according to government estimates.
The heavy rains and floods have played havoc with crops on over 300,000 acres of land. The worst hit were Godavari and Krishna delta areas - the most fertile and prosperous region of the state.
The flood-hit coastal districts and Khammam and Warangal in Telangana received some respite as water levels in the two rivers came down.
But the threat is not yet over for the southern state as heavy rains in the upstream areas of Maharashtra are likely to bring huge inflows to the two major rivers and add to the misery of already inundated delta areas in Andhra Pradesh.
More than 200,000 people have been evacuated from the affected villages in various districts, including Khammam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna and Guntur.
Three north coastal districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam were also battered by cyclonic storm on Monday.
The heavy rains and floods left a trail of destruction in Warangal, Nalgonda and Karimnagar districts of Telangana. More than 3,000 villages in these districts were hit.
People who have taken shelter in relief camps are waiting for the water level to recede in their villages. People in some areas in Godavari districts and Krishna are angry with the authorities over the delay in evacuating them. Some of those taking shelter in relief camps are also protesting the lack of relief materials.
The government estimates that the state has suffered losses of Rs 18 billion and it has urged the centre to provide at least Rs 12 billion in assistance.
With rains and floods abating, the authorities have swung into action to restore road, rail and air traffic. For the fourth consecutive day flights have been cancelled from the port city of Visakhapatnam as efforts are on in full swing to pump out water from the runway and other parts of the airport.
One the damaged railway tracks in Warangal district has been repaired restoring some of the train services on the Hyderabad-Vijayawada section. Railway officials said it would take another 12 hours to fully restore the services on this line.
During the last three days dozens of trains within the state and between the southern and northern Indian cities were cancelled or diverted.
The road transport on the Hyderabad-Vijayawada national highway is yet to be restored as vast stretches of the road were badly damaged by floods.
