Telangana: Godavari crosses danger level following heavy rainfall

With incessant rains in the catchment area bringing along huge inflows into Godavari, the river has been overflowing at various locations of Telangana along its course. The Godavari river crossed the first danger mark on Saturday, flooding into the temple town of Bhadrachalam after several parts of the state witnessed continuous rainfall, said MV Reddy, Bhadradri Kothagudem District Collector.

"Due to heavy rains from the past four days, the Godavari river flood level has been rising gradually. At 45 feet, it has crossed the first flood warning level of 43 feet. The people of nearby zones are requested to be vigilant and the sectoral and respective zone authorities should take relief measures in the flood-prone areas," he added.

Reddy also asked the Bhadrachalam sub-collector office to remain alert for calls to the control room numbers for help and advised relief workers to rescue people from flood-hit areas to safer rehabilitation centres.

Meanwhile, floodwater accumulated at the Taliperu reservoir forcing the irrigation officials to lift seven gates and releasing 17,626 cusecs of water downstream. 

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Warning issued for Dowaleswaram 

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 floods.

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.

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(With inputs from agency)