Dist. Admin gears up as CM, Governor set to visit flood-hit Bhadrachalam today

BHADRACHALAM: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao is likely to review the flood situation, along with officials, in Bhadrachalam on Sunday. He will visit Bhadrachalam after completing an aerial survey of the floods from Kadem reservoir to Bhadrachalam. It is expected that the Chief Minister will take a decision on increasing the height of the bund in Bhadrachalam and constructing a bund on Burgampahad side.

Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan will also visit the flood-affected areas on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the district administration has decided to continue the rehabilitation camps for another four to five days as the flood is receding slowly in Godavari. Marooned villages will be out of water only if the water level recedes below 53 feet. The water level is receding 0.1 foot per hour in Bhadrachalam. The people in the relief camps cannot move to their villages until flood water is totally cleared.

The cleaning operation at relief camps in Bhadrachalam division is going to be a big problem, said the officials. Panchayat raj commissioner and special officer of flood relief operations visited the relief camps on ITC premises, ITDA office, the government degree college and Girijan Bhavan in Bhadrachalam and Burgampahad mandals. He asked the revenue officials to engage sanitation workers and maintain cleanliness in the centres, particularly toilets. Nearly 16,000 people including kids and women have been staying in 65 camps, so maintaining clean premises is key in checking contagious diseases.

The officials, who are looking after the relief camps, were asked not to serve food cooked with tamarind and tomatoes as there is a chance of spreading diarrhoea with the items. The officials are given free hand to take additional workers in maintaining cleanliness in these relief camps.