Godavari flood remains steady in Andhra Pradesh

Amaravati: Flood flow remained rather steady at 25.93 lakh cusecs in river Godavari in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday morning.

The gush 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.

But the level may rise in the next few hours when the discharge from upstream Bhadrachalam in neighbouring Telangana reaches the Cotton Barrage via Polavaram.

State Disaster Management Authority Managing Director B R Ambedkar said the deluge showed signs of decreasing as the flow at Cotton Barrage remained steady.

“However, 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.

About 515 villages in five districts were currently facing the flood fury, he said.

The government has opened 177 relief camps in the affected districts, where 71,200 people were lodged.

The state government sanctioned an 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.