Intensity of flood flow in Godavari reduces, third warning signal withdrawn

Giving some respite to people living near the river banks, the intensity of the floods in the Godavari reduced considerably on Wednesday, and the wate flow fell to a level of 18.99 lakh cusecs due to which the third warning signal has been withdrawn at the Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage at Dowaleswaram near Rajamahendravaram.

As the level at Bhadrachalam in neighbouring Telangana fell to 44 feet, the flood flow dwindled and is expected to reduce further.

This gave some respite to thousands of people in the lanka (island) villages along the river course in East and West Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh but it could take a couple of days for normalcy to restore,according to sources.

The relief camps opened for the flood victims in the two districts are continuing, where the administration has been providing food to the people sheltered there.

However, heavy rain due to a low-pressure area in Bay of Bengal has been forecast in these two districts and, as such, the state Disaster Management Commissioner K Kanna Babu asked the Collectors and official machinery to be on alert.

In a statement, Kanna Babu asked people residing in low-lying areas and lanka villages to stay alert and take necessary precautions in view of the situation.

Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy directed authorities concerned to enumerate the crop losses quickly and extend succour to the affected farmers.

He also directed the authorities to take up repair of roads damaged due to the flood.

Meanwhile, the inflow into Srisailam reservoir on river Krishna increased to 3.48 lakh cusecs on Wednesday, improving the water storage by about 10 tmc ft to 195.97 tmc ft.

Water Resources authorities are discharging 1.01 lakh cusecs into the downstream Nagarjuna Sagar.

The Prakasam Barrage downstream at Vijayawada saw a significant reduction in inflow with just 68,552 cusecs reaching it, mainly from the Muniyeru rivulet.

Consequently, 56,004 cusecs was being discharged from the barrage.