Municipal corporation officials made arrangements to shift people from areas vulnerable to flood as 1.86 lakh cusecs was being discharged from Prakasam Barrage by 7 p.m. here on Tuesday.
The rescue and rehabilitation teams were put on high alert. The corporation officials visited the areas asking people to cooperate with the rescue teams and move to the rehabilitation centres. They began announcements through the public address system in the areas such as Ranigarithota and Tarakarama Nagar, which were likely to face the threat if the flood discharge crossed 3 lakh cusecs at once.
The irrigation officials lifted all 70 gates of the barrage to a height of 4 ft as a precautionary measure in view of 2.92 lakh cusecs discharged from Nagarjuna Sagar on Monday.
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Irrigation Department Krishna (Central) Executive Engineer V.S. Ramesh Babu said that 1.86 lakh cusecs was discharged into the sea and 16,000 cusecs was released into canals.
“We are expecting 2.5 lakh cusecs to touch the barrage tonight (Tuesday) and 3 lakh cusecs by Wednesday,” he said. The releases, however, did not have any impact downstream in the city limits. The VMC officials see no imminent danger as, except near Sitammavari padalu, the sand dunes near Tarakarama Nagar did not submerge.
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Notwithstanding this, the corporation has geared up to meet any eventuality.
The VMC has made arrangements to open 20 rehabilitation centres to shift the affected people to safer locations in case the water level rises in the riverbed areas. The VMC has also opened flood control room in the corporation office and appointed supervisors and medical officers to monitor the situation.
Municipal Commissioner G. Ravi Babu said people can contact the control room in Natarajan Gulzar hall in the corporation office over phone number (0866) 2425114.
The centres are located in Montessori School, Bandar Road, Bishop Azaraiah High School near All India Radio, IGM Complex, Krishnaveni Public School, Patamata, VMC High School, Patamatalanka, ZP Boys High School, Patamatalanka, NSM School, Patamata, and DSM High School, Vidyadharapuram, PSM Girls High School, Gandhiji High School in One Town, SPSMC Urdu School, Vidyadharapuram and Shadikhana, Vidyadharapuram. Bhashyam High School, bypass road near Sitara centre, Netaji public school, Mytapati high school, and Mynapati Bhaskara Rao Elementary School, Vidyadharapuram.