Vijayawada flood damage assessment to begin from Monday

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha said here on Sunday that the procedure of estimating flood losses in Vijayawada will begin from Monday.

Addressing a press conference at the NTR district collectorate, the Home Minister said flood relief work is going on for the eighth day since the floods in the centrally located city.

"From tomorrow (Monday), the procedure to start estimating flood losses will begin," said Anitha.

Earlier, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said the state government sent its first report regarding the floods to the Centre and sought a relief of Rs 6,880 crore, and added that external enumerators are being roped in, who will be provided with training on Sunday.

In flood-hit areas, the CM observed that out of 2 lakh houses, 1.4 lakh were single-floor residences, which suffered extensive damage due to the floods.

Naidu said houses, shops and all others will be assessed for damage.

Meanwhile, the number of deaths due to floods rose to 45 on Sunday morning, said an official press release.

Mohammed Ilyas (50) from Ajit Singh Nagar mini stadium area, one of the worst-affected places, who is currently taking refuge at a relative's house in Tadigadapa told PTI that it has been raining continuously in Vijayawada since Saturday night.

Though the 100-metre Budameru breach has been plugged, Ilyas said water is seeping through it and flowing towards Vijayawada, parts of which are still waterlogged.

He said the sand and mud between the boulders used to plug the breach got washed away, leading to seepage.

Moreover, Budameru is also receiving inflows from swollen Pulivagu rivulet, along with inflows from Munneru rivulet in Telangana.

"Waterlogging has reduced. Now there is about 2 ft water on the road and it is not reducing further due to continuous rain. Once it stops raining it could reduce," said Ilyas.

Home Minister Anitha said that three lakh food packets, milk, and biscuits would be distributed today while vegetables, whose prices have been regulated, also recorded brisk sales.

The Home Minister noted that 5 lakh kg vegetables were sold through 163 stores.

Further, 20,000 houses were cleaned using fire engines and 42 drones are also deployed for sanitation work.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister met Governor S Abdul Nazeer on Sunday and briefed him on the flood situation and the damage caused to Vijayawada city and other places in the state.