Godavari Floods: AP Ministers To Conduct Aerial Survey In Flood-hit Areas 

AMARAVATI: As per Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s orders to intensify relief operations in Alluri Sitarama Raju district and take stock of the situation, Ministers Gudivada Amarnath and Ch Venu Gopala Krishna will conduct an aerial survey of the flood-affected areas on Sunday.

The Chief Minister is reviewing the situation from time to time and instructed ministers and officials to be on alert as the Godavari river flood flow remained steady at 25.93 lakh cusecs on Sunday morning. The CM ordered authorities to be on high alert for the next 24 hours in the wake of the Godavari floods. He directed officials to take all necessary precautions to avoid any loss of life. Orders have already been issued so that essentials like medicines, food supply, drinking water, and milk are available for the people in the relief camps. The government has opened 177 relief camps in the affected districts, where 71,200 people were lodged. The state government sanctioned additional assistance of Rs 3 crore each to Alluri Sitarama Raju, Eluru, and Konaseema districts where the gravity of the flood was high, requiring relief operations on a large scale. The government previously sanctioned Rs 2 crore each to these districts, and also East and West Godavari, for flood relief operations.

The Ministers will review the situation in Etapaka, Chintoor, Koonavaram, VR Puram, and Devipatnam mandals in the Godavari districts through the aerial survey.

►125 villages were submerged and 165 villages were affected by floods in seven mandals of Alluri Sitamama Raju district. Around 101 relief centers have been set up in the district and 49,623 people have been shifted there. Most of the villages in Chintoor and Etapaka mandals were submerged. Flooding was severe in VR Puram, Devipatnam and Koonavaram mandals on the banks of Godavari.
► 74 villages in 18 mandals in the BR Ambedkar Konaseema district were affected by floods and 18 relief centers have been set up and 9,290 people have been relocated.
► In Eluru district, 26 villages belonging to seven mandals were flooded while 33 villages have received heavy water flows and 18 resettlement centers were opened and 9,363 people were evacuated.
► Out of 8 mandals of West Godavari district, 28 villages are flooded while water has reached 27 more villages. Aroudn 1345 people were shifted to 18 rehabilitation centers.
► In the East Godavari district, 13 villages out of 21 mandals were flooded.
► In the Kakinada district, 90 people were evacuated to a relief camp after Thallarevu village was submerged.
► NDRF and SDRF teams have shifted hundreds of people to safe areas after they sought safety on the rooftops of their houses after they were submerged in water.

Meanwhile, the water flow seemed to have slowed down going by the discharge at Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage in Dowaleswaram near Rajamahendravaram, which increased by just over 33,000 cusecs in the last 11 hours, according to the AP Water Resources Information and Management System data.

However, the level may rise in the next few hours when the discharge from upstream Bhadrachalam in neighboring Telangana reaches the Cotton Barrage via Polavaram. People along the Godavari course need to be cautious till the water recedes. We are closely monitoring the situation from the State Emergency Operation Centre here,” Ambedkar said in a release.

Also Read: Godavari River Fury in AP: NDRF, SDRF Continue Relief Work in Flood-hit Villages