Within a few hours of the Central Water Commission (CWC) withdrawing a third warning, flood waters in the Godavari began increasing on Thursday, causing heightened concern to people. The second warning was issued as the water level crossed 48 feet, and the water level may touch the third warning level, officials cautioned.
At 6 p.m., water level was recorded at 50.3 feet, and the flood level was rising as rivers and rivulets were in spate upstream. “As there is heavy rainfall prediction in the catchment areas and huge inflows into Godavari, Sabari and Tammileru rivers, water level may increase,” CWC officials said.
The water level at Kunavaram, Koida, Coffer Dam, Polavaram, Old Railway Bridge at Rajamahendravaram, and Sir Arthur Cotton Bridge at Dowleswaram, was rising.
The West and East Godavari district administrations alerted the officers deployed on flood duty.
Instructions had been given to evacuate the people staying in thatched and mud huts, which had been soaked in the rain for the last few days, said Polavaram Sub-Collector R.V. Suryanarayana.
The Bhadrachalam Agency is facing a renewed threat of floods as the Godavari swelled rapidly on Thursday by crossing the first (43 feet) and second (48 feet) warning levels in a span of just little over 12 hours, before inching closer to the danger mark (53 feet) at Bhadrachalam town. This has prompted the official machinery to bolster its emergency response mechanism in the flood prone areas by deploying 46 boats and 100 swimmers equipped with life jackets along the Godavari in seven Agency mandals.
(With inputs from Hyderabad bureau)
