Second warning issued as Godavari flood surge continues in AP

AMARAVATI: The second warning signal has been raised at Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage at Dowaleswaram near Rajamahendravaram as the flood flow in river Godavari rose to 13.19 lakh cusecs (cubic foot of water flow per second) on Thursday morning.

Three teams each of the National Disaster Response Force and the SDRF have been positioned in B R Ambedkar Konaseema, Alluri Sitarama Raju and Eluru districts for carrying out rescue and relief operations as several mandals are affected by the flood.

State Disaster Management Authority Managing Director B R Ambedkar said Collectors of the respective districts have been put on alert in view of the increase in the flood.

“We are constantly monitoring the situation from the State Emergency Operations Centre here and taking necessary steps,” Ambedkar said.

The Inter-Ministerial Team of officials from the Centre is touring B R Ambedkar Konaseema district to assess the damage caused by the Godavari flood last month.

Meanwhile, the Srisailam reservoir on river Krishna has been filled to the brim, following which over 3.96 lakh cusecs of water is being discharged downstream. Consequently, the Nagarjuna Sagar dam downstream is also filling up gradually and inching closer to the full reservoir level, according to the Andhra Pradesh Water Resources Information and Management System data.

Dr K L Rao Pulichintala reservoir, further down Nagarjuna Sagar, is receiving about 50,000 cusecs of water and letting out 73,192 cusecs as a flood cushion of about 7 thousand million cubic ft is being maintained.

All crest gates of the Prakasam Barrage in Vijayawada have been opened to let out close to one lakh cusecs of flood water into the Bay of Bengal.