The swollen Penganga river started receding on Tuesday afternoon thereby diminishing the threat of flooding villages on its banks in Adilabad district. A few hundred acres of agriculture fields however were water logged despite the receding water level.
The Penganga had threatened to breach its banks late in the night as heavy rainfall in its catchment area in Maharashtra caused its swelling. The steady increase in water level prevented local streams from discharging into it which in turn resulted in water spreading onto a vast area. The villages affected, all in Jainad and Bela mandal, are Kamai, Pendalwada, Sangvi, Anandpur and Sangdi. The exact extent of fields inundated will be known only after water recedes from the fields.
Elsewhere, the swollen Penganga posed problems for people of Sirpur (T), Koutala and Bejjur mandals as it caused flooding of the Thatichettuorre stream. Flood water from the stream could not get discharged into Penganga which had it submerging the low level bridge thereby halting traffic flow between Sirpur (T) and Koutala.
Meanwhile, authorities have issued a warning to villagers of Chandanapur, Kondapalli, Padthanpalli, Karnamamidi and Rparthi in Mancherial mandal to vacate in view of the increasing water level in the Yellampalli reservoir. These villages form part of submergence area under the project in Adilabad district. Authorities said over 450 houses were yet to be relocated from these villages. The relocation and rehabilitation under the project was not complete despite a lapse of several years. The inflows into Kadem project slackened during the night and three of the five gates were closed. The discharge was pegged at about 50,000 cusecs to maintain the reservoir level at 695 feet against a full reservoir level of 700 feet.
