Flood fury: Prakasam Barrage’s pillar damaged after boat gets stuck at Gate No. 69
At 10 AM, 70 gates of the Prakasam Barrage were opened and the officials discharged about 11.39 lakh cusecs of flood water
By Sri Lakshmi Muttevi Published on 2 Sep 2024 4:28 AM GMT
Vijayawada: A Prakasam Barrage pillar base was damaged after one of the boats swept away by gushing flood waters got struck at Gate No. 69 in the wee hours of Monday.
At 10 AM on September 2, 70 gates of the Prakasam Barrage were opened and the officials discharged about 11.39 lakh cusecs of flood water, the largest since October 5, 2009. In 2009, Prakasam Barrage discharged 10,95,402 cusecs flood water.
According to the officials, four traditional boats hit the Prakasam Barrage pillar. One boat got stuck near the gate and as a result, it was closed.
Teams are working on clearing the boats that got stuck in the area. Authorities are assessing the extent of the damage and monitoring the situation closely to prevent further incidents.
The water resources authorities were getting an inflow of 9.94 lakh cusecs of water from upstream projects forcing them to lift all 70 gates to release water downstream.
The authorities have sounded high alert at both upstream and downstream of the barrage to avoid any untoward incidents.
The swollen Godavari river inundated several 'Lanka' (island) villages in the East and West Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh.
Further, owing to the incessant rains, the rainwater is overflowing on NH 65 at Chillakallu and Nandigama of Andhra Pradesh. Further Paleru River is overflowing on the road at Nayakani Gudem on the route from Suryapet to Khammam. The bridge also collapsed at Ramapuram X Road after crossing Kodad Town of Suryapet District, Telangana.
The police have advised the citizens to postpone their journey for reasons of safety and security, and only travel if necessary.
Several parts of Vijayawada city have been flooded due to unprecedented rainfall, swollen rivulets, and flood water inflows, disrupting the normal life of over 2.7 lakh people.
Budameru, a rivulet on the outskirts of the city suffered breaches and overflowed at many places, inundating the ground floors of thousands of residential buildings in Ajit Singh Nagar, Krishna Lanka, Bhupesh Nagar, Ibrahimpatnam, and others.
