Telangana Flood Alerts: Godavari rises to 43 feet at Bhadrachalam; first warning given

Kothagudem: A first warning was issued after the water level in river Godavari at Bhadrachalam rose to 43 feet at 3.19 pm on Thursday. Due to heavy rainfall in the catchment areas and overflowing tributaries, the water level is expected to rise more by night.

The areas surrounding the Ramalayam temple were flooded with water and the flood water is slowly entering low-lying areas. In 2022, flood water reached the temple area only after the third warning.

Revenue divisional officer Bhadrachalam updated Bhadradri Kothagudem district collector Dr Priyanka Ala about the flood situation, and all flood officers were asked to take action as per the Godavari flood manual.

Flood-effected to be moved to relief centres

The collector directed the officials to shift the residents in flood-prone villages to relief centres immediately and identify dilapidated houses. The devotees in Bhadrachalam were prevented from entering bathing ghats. The collector told the officials to keep boats, life jackets and lifebuoys ready in case of any emergency.

Control rooms have been set up in Bhadrachalam, Kothagudem RDO offices and at Tahsildar offices of flood-prone mandals.

The public can call the Kothagudem collectorate control room at 08744-241950, and WhatsApp on 9392919743. The Kothagudem RDO office WhatsApp control room number is 9392919750, the Bhadrachalam sub-collector office control room number is 08743-232444. People can also reach out on WhatsApp on 7981219425 for assistance.

Konaseema districts on alert

Dr BR Ambedkar Konaseema district collector Himanshu Shukla advised the residents of Godavari coastal areas in Andhra Pradesh to be alert with the rise of water levels in the catchment areas of Telangana.

On Thursday, he held a review of the disaster prevention measures to be taken in advance. The collector asked the officials to arrange sandbags in the areas where the soil is weak and asked officials to deploy a boat facility to four Lanka villages in case of emergency.

In flood-prone areas, all pregnant women with due dates were asked to be shifted to the primary health centres. The elderly above 80 years of age were asked to be shifted first. For every 400 families in a village, officials were asked to select a house and set up a cooking centre and take steps to supply quality food. The District Fisheries Department was asked to arrange around 250 boats for the evacuation of the flood victims.

A high alert has been given to Chinturu, Yetapaka, VR Puram and Kunavaram mandals of Alluri Sitarama Raju district. According to irrigation officials, it takes 18 hours for the flood water to travel from Bhadrachalam to Rajamahendravaram. Surplus water is being discharged from Dowleswaram Barrage into the sea at the rate of 1.5 lakh cusecs.

Siddipet residents asked to stay away from streams

Siddipet district commissioner of police N Swetha advised people to stay away from water bodies and flowing streams as it poses a danger to their lives.

In a press statement, the commissioner has asked the police officials to work in coordination with revenue and irrigation officials and local elected representatives. She asked them to keep barricades and traffic diversion cones at places where the people’s movement should be restricted. She directed the police to stay alert at all times.

With the Moya Tummeda stream overflowing, traffic has been diverted from Siddipet to Warangal Road. People going towards Warangal were asked to take Basvapur-Koreddypally road, and people coming to Siddipet from Warangal were diverted to Lakshampur-Koreddypallya and Basvapur roads to reach Siddipet.