Floods in Godavari and Krishna wreaked havoc in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Many villages in Konaseema and Diviseema are still under water. Lakhs of people are rendered homeless, but the response from both the governments seems causal.
Despite a lull in rain fury, two major rivers in Telugu states – Krishna and Godavari – are in full spate. Incessant rains for the last two weeks have wreaked havoc inundating low lying areas. Warangal witnessed unprecedented flooding while Hyderabad’s woes continued as usual.
Due to the heavy rains in upstream areas, Godavari flood level reached 70 ft at Bhadrachalam – only the third time it has happened in recorded history. This led to flooding in 273 villages under the project’s submergence area. Backwaters from under-construction Polavaram too flooded many tribal villages. Old Polavaram village has been under water for the two weeks.
With release of 17 lakh cusecs water after gates of Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage at Dowleswaram were lifted, 324 villages in ‘lanka (island)’ areas have been submerged. Around 4 lakh people have been rendered homeless in the two Godavari districts.
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy announced Rs 2,000 cash relief for flood victims, after conducting an aerial survey in the affected areas. But the victims complain that let alone fresh relief, they have not received the Rs 5,000 announced last year during the floods.
Krishna river too is witnessing heavy flood thanks to rains lashing its catchment areas in Karnataka and Maharashtra. Narayanapur, Tungabhadra, Almatti, Joorala, Srisailam, Nagarjunasagar and Pulichitnal projects have been filled. Now 4 lakh cusecs of water is being released to Nagarjunasagar from Srisailam by lifting 10 gates. Downstream, 70 gates of Prakasam barrage have been lifted to let off floodwater into sea. This led to flooding of many low lying areas in Vijayawada like Krishnalanka and Ramalingeswara Nagar. Around 50,000 houses have been inundated. People in these localities were shifted to temporary shelters in IGMC stadium and school / college buildings. Vijayawada West MLA Gadde Rammohan Rao alleged that the YSRCP government’s negligence in completing the Rs 100-crore retaining wall works has led to this situation.
Many island villages in Diviseema too are experiencing flood fury. Crops in 60,000 acres are under water and people of 60 villagers are in the grip of fear. However, authorities are expecting that the floods will recede in two or three days as rains have stopped.
People are complaining about the lack of response and concern of the governments in both the states.
