Flood situation remains grim in two Andhra districts

Hyderabad: The flood situation in two Godavari districts of coastal Andhra continued to be grim with hundreds of villages marooned, and the Met Office has forecast more rain over the next two days.

A large number of villages in East Godavari and West Godavari districts in coastal Andhra remained under water as the Godavari river continued to be in spate while the level has receded at upstream Bhadrachalam in Khammam district, officials said. The water level in Godavari river at Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage at Dowleswaram crossed 17-foot mark Monday morning and the outflow through all 175 gates reached a whopping 18 lakh cusecs, flooding the `Lanka` villages, as the island villages in Konaseema region are called. The floods in the two Godavari districts have hit over 1.5 lakh people. Many villagers are going without food and water. Over 5,000 people were shifted to relief camps and safe places, officials said. Several villages in flood-hit Khammam, Karimnagar and Adilabad districts of Telangana region were still cut off. North Telangana, which received some respite from heavy rain for the last two days, is facing a fresh threat with the forecast of more rain over the next two days. Parts of Warangal, Adilabad, Karimnagar and other districts received heavy rain Monday. Intermittent rain also continued in Hyderabad. The rain and floods over last one week have claimed 12 lives. Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Raghuveera Reddy told reporters in Hyderabad an ex-gratia of Rs.2 lakh each will be paid to the families of the victims. He said the rains have damaged 5,204 houses. More than 8,000 people have taken shelter in the relief camps opened in the flood-hit districts. Electricity supply to 804 villages was disrupted and restored in 480 villages. The heavy rain and floods have damaged crops over 60,000 hectares. Reddy said 294 tanks had breached. Krishna, the other major river that flows through the state, is also receiving huge inflows from upstream areas in Karnataka. The water level in Jurala project in Mahabubnagar district rose to 317.6 feet. Authorities have opened 13 gates to release the water. The outflow is reaching Srisailam dam. This has raised the hopes of farmers in Krishna delta in downstream Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam districts. The state has so far received 29 percent excess rainfall this monsoon. Officials said 13 districts have received excess rainfall this season while it was normal in eight districts. Only Anantapur and Visakhapatnam districts have received deficit rainfall. IANS