KAKINADA: The floods in River Godavari continued on Thursday with inflows of 16 lakh cusecs at Sir Arthur Cotton barrage at Dowleswaram in East Godavari district. The third warning was in force for Kunavaram and Chinturu merged mandals.
Drinking water given to rehabilitation centres was found to be contaminated and a three-year-old boy Pothabathula Rushi Teja of Kunavaram village died after vomiting and loose motions.
The parents of the boy, P Sammakka and Durga Prasad, said the boy was suffering from vomiting and motions and they could not give medical treatment to him as this happened at night on Wednesday.
“Due to the submergence of our house, we are living in a launch with our three children. Sammakka is seven months pregnant.
In the early hours of Thursday, Sammakka’s mother Padma took the boy to the health centre at Kothulagutta and doctors gave him medicines. When Padma was returning to their residence by boat, the boy’s condition became serious and he was taken back to the hospital. Doctors declared the boy’s death,” family members said.
Kunavaram tahasildar Anasuya informed the boy’s death to the Alluri Seetharama Raju district collector Sumit. He directed the officials to give
Rs 50,000 as an immediate financial relief to the family.
The floodwaters in the river were flowing above the danger level at Kunavaram, Chinturu, VR Puram, Velerupadu and Kukunuru mandals in the ASR district. The flood victims were still in their rehabilitation camps.
These flood victims said they were in darkness while snakes and other insects were moving around. The islet villages in Konaseema district were also inundated.
