Godavari crosses danger mark at Bhadrachalam
The Godavari turned perilous with the river flowing three feet above the danger mark of 53 feet at Bhadrachalam on Monday evening, necessitating the deployment of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel in Bhadrachalam Agency for taking up relief operations. The flash floods in the swollen river and its tributaries, Taliperu and Sabari, wreaked havoc in the Agency area, submerging standing kharif crops in hundreds of acres and snapping road link to over 100 villages across the Agency. Causeways inundated The floodwater inundated causeways and small bridges at various points on the Bhadrachalam-Charla, Bhadrachalam-Kunavaram, Wajedu-Venkatapuram and other roads in the Agency.
The grim flood situation prompted the authorities to shift 320 persons belonging to 93 families from the flood-affected villages, mainly the riverside tribal habitations in the Agency to five relief camps in Bhadrachalam, Venkatapuram and Charla mandals. Some 40 families of the flood-hit Kotha Colony at Bhadrachalam, 25 families of the marooned Dandupeta in Charla mandal were among those moved to safer areas. A team of the NDRF comprising 40 personnel of the 10th battalion has been deployed in the divisional headquarters to undertake relief and rescue operations.
A total of 20 boats and several teams of swimmers have been kept on standby to meet any exigency. Power cut off Electricity supply has been stopped to almost all the villages in both Kunavaram and V R Puram mandals in adherence to the safety precautions envisaged by the flood manual, sources said. The water level in the river at Bhadrachalam is likely to rise further late in the night and remain static around 59 feet in the next 12 hours, according to sources in the Irrigation Department. The district administration has set up control rooms in Khammam (08742 231600) and Bhadrachalam (08743-232444) to closely monitor the flood situation and ensure coordinated flood relief operations in the Agency areas. Meanwhile, Collector K Ilambarithi, ITDA, Bhadrachalam, Project Officer, D Divya, Bhadrachalam RDO Anjaiah and others reviewed the flood situation in Bhadrachalam.
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