KAKINADA: Taluru village in Devipatnam mandal has been encircled by floodwaters. The people shifted to reach safer places in a huff without help from the officials and set up temporary shelters in the hills.
Talluru is among the villages affected by the Polavaram Irrigation Project.
A crisis situation exists for the villagers. The government has not completed the implementation of the R&R package for the affected families. The officials had told them they would provide an R&R package if they vacated the village. The people then made it clear to the officials that they would vacate the village only after they got the R&R package and the erection of the rehabilitation colonies.
Thereafter, the officials constructed a colony for the villagers without holding consultations with them. The villagers say that, for the past two years, the officials ignored them every time floods occurred.
Meanwhile, many villages in the merged mandals like Kunavaram, VR Puram, Kukunuru, Velerupadu and some villages in Chinturu and Yetapaka mandals were still caught in the floods.
Eluru SP, Mary Prashanti, asked the police force to evacuate the people of the affected Kukkunuru and Velerupadu villages. A police team evacuated the people with the help of boats. They provided food and other materials to the victims with help from revenue personnel.
The SP cautioned the people against going fishing in the rivulets, rivers, canals and other water sources and told them not to cross the water sources during the flood season. People can dial emergency number 100 when they require assistance.
The services are available round the clock.
Control rooms have been set up in Eluru special branch office (08812-230175), Polavaram DSP office (7382623680), Kukkunuru CI office (9440796608) and Polavaram CI office (9440796663).
Housing minister Jogi Ramesh visited the flood-affected villages in Ainavilli Lanka, Veeravallipalem etc in Ayinavilli mandal of BR Ambedkar Konaseema district along with transport minister Pinepe Viswaroop and P Gannavaram MLA Kondeti Chittibabu.
He said that the flood waters have submerged the Ainavilli Lanka village road and transport facilities to the village remained suspended. Officials would lay alternative roads to the people and boats would be arranged in the flood-affected areas apart from the supply of food and other essentials to the victims.
Konaseema collector Himanshu Shukla said there was a possibility of a third warning at Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage and all precautionary steps were being taken to face the floods. A volunteer has been appointed for every half kilometre and 740 volunteers have been deployed to supervise the river bunds. Some 42 vulnerable points of bunds have been identified in the district.
He said 2,000 sandbags were available in 121 villages, which were identified as flood-affected. Food preparations are done in two-storied buildings at 25 habitations. Rice, red-gram dal, oil, vegetables, drinking water etc were made available there. Some 250 boats have been arranged.
