Godavari Is Still in Spate, Sabari Level Comes Down

Visakhapatnam: The authorities sounded danger signal number one which was withdrawn on Tuesday morning as the water level in Godavari is slowly rising due to rains in the upper reaches.

“We have withdrawn danger signal number one in the morning but sounded again as the water level increased. However, the water level in River Sabari is coming down which gives us big relief. It is Sabhari which affects the Chintoor division comprising four mandals,’’ said Alluri Sitarama Raju district collector A.S. Dinesh Kumar.

He said half of the 3,800 families have left the relief camps while the remaining are moving out slowly. The supply of essential commodities has started as the road connectivity to all the mandal headquarters of Chintur, Kunavaram, VR Puram and Etapaka has been established. Communication and road connectivity to some villages in VR Puram are yet to be established.

He said interior villages close to River Godavari still face flood situations and affected people need to be moved to safer places.

The collector has visited the villages close to Sabari along with Rampachodavaram MLA Miriyala Sirisha Devi and distributed Rs 3,000 each to the Polavaram displaced family as announced by the state government. Both visited many homes in the flood-hit villages and enquired about their wellbeing. They also visited temporary shelters set up for the affected people.

Meanwhile, Kunavaram Mandal CPM leaders, sarpanchs, MPTCs and other local leaders met the collector and requested him to restore power to 20 villages which are still in darkness for the past 12 days.

The collector said the administration would take up massive sanitation exercise in the flood-affected areas after the people returned to their homes to prevent diseases.