River Godavari still in spate; 1st warning signal issued

With the river Godavari continuing to remain in spate in Andhra Pradesh, the first warning signal was raised on Saturday at Dowaleswaram near Rajamahendravaram as it received an inflow of 10.36 lakh cusecs.

As much water was being discharged into the Bay of Bengal as the Dowaleswaram barrage was filled to the brim (2.93 tmc ft) by Saturday afternoon.

"We have alerted the authorities concerned to take all precautionary measures along the river course in view of the flood flow.

Two teams of the National Disaster Response Force have also been positioned at Rajamahendravaram to attend to any eventuality," Andhra Pradesh Disaster Management Commissioner K Kanna Babu said.

He asked people not to travel in the river on boats nor go for bathing and swimming. The Devipatnam mandal in East Godavari district remained cut off due to the flood in Godavari. Downstream in West Godavari district, the river has been flowing over the Kotturu causeway, disrupting road communication to the island villages.

The floodwater also entered the spillway channel at the Polavaram project site, hampering construction work.