The Inter-Ministerial Central Team had inspected the core belt of the rain-devastated areas in Kadapa district on Saturday, the second day of their visit, which included the Annamayya project wall collapse zone, inundated villages of Pulapattur, Eguva, and Diguva Mandapalle villages, and damaged fields along the Cheyyeru river in Rajampeta division.
Kadapa Collector V. Vijayarama Raju and senior officials of the Roads and Buildings, Irrigation, Agriculture, and Panchayat Raj Departments apprised the Central team of the heavy damage caused to roads, causeways, houses, and crops; and the relief measures launched in the area on a war-footing. The team members had watched a photo exhibition depicting the flood fury at Pulaputtur village. Farmers poured out their woes before the team while showing them their completely submerged and sand-covered fields along the Cheyyeru.
Residents narrated their harrowing experience of how their houses were submerged under eight feet of water, forcing them to take shelter on treetops and rooftops to save their lives. Explaining the reasons for the Annamayya project damage, the Collector said that over 3 lakh cusecs of floodwaters of the Bahuda river had gushed into the reservoir in a few hours, leading to the wall collapse and devastation. The breach of the Annamayya reservoir resulted in the death of 20 persons in Rajampeta division.
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In Chittoor district, another Central team visited the Gangavaram, Chandragiri, Chowdepalle, Somala, and Ramachandrapuram mandals.
Villagers at Mamadugu village of Gangavaram mandal informed the team that their standing crops of paddy, groundnut, and vegetables under the ayacut of Kanikalla tank were washed away in the floods.
The Central team, during its visit to Veerapalle village of Peddapanjani mandal, assessed damage of paddy crop in 138 acres, and inundation of floriculture, horticulture plantations in Chowdepalle mandal. The team, which visited Somala mandal, was informed that close to 2,000 acres of paddy, groundnut, and sugarcane crops were damaged at Irikipenta and Chennapatnam villages under Kurakapalle tank ayacut. The team also assessed damage at Moravapalle village of Chandragiri mandal.
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Meanwhile, a Central team on Saturday paid a visit to the Rayalacheruvu tank in Ramachandrapuram mandal near Tirupati and took stock of the ongoing works to strengthen the bund where a leak was reported a few days ago.
Magnitude of damage
Principal Secretary (Revenue and Disaster Management) V. Usha Rani on Saturday said that the rains between November 13 and 20 had caused unprecedented damage in the districts of Chittoor, Kadapa, Anantapur, and Nellore district, besides leading to the death of 44 persons and disappearance of 15.
After a meeting with the Inter-Ministerial Central team members in Tirupati, Ms. Usha Rani said that the floods in the Rayalaseema region were unprecedented, with heavy rainfall on November 19 in Chittoor, Anantapur, and Nellore districts. The flood had impacted the Rayala Cheruvu tank near Tirupati, besides damaging the linked-tanks network in Chittoor district.
The floods left a trail of fury in 199 mandals of the Rayalaseema and Nellore districts, while heavy property and crop loss were reported in 1,990 mandals, including 211 villages and 23 towns. “A population of 2.31 lakh was affected by the floods. As many as 5,740 houses were damaged, and 98,514 houses inundated,” the Principal Secretary said.
She added that 25 teams, including 260 NDRF and 300 SDRF personnel and 54 Fire Service personnel, were deployed to steer the relief and rescue operations in the region, with the help of 22 boats and two helicopters. “As many as 319 relief camps were set up to provide food and shelter to 79,590 people. An amount of ₹3.20 crore was spent to ground 747 medical camps,” she said.
Ms. Usha Rani said that crop damage was reported in 2.86 lakh hectares, mostly paddy. She said that the crop loss was maximum in Kadapa district with 56,139 hectares affected, followed by 28,000 hectares in Anantapur and 12,744 hectares in Chittoor district, affecting 4.78 lakh farmers. Ms. Usha Rani said that 3,129 panchayat roads and 20 buildings of the department were damaged. Huge property loss was reported by the Roads and Buildings, Water Resources and Electricity Departments.
Central team members Kunal Satyardhi (Adviser, Ministry of Home Affairs), Abhay Kumar (Director, Ministry of Finance), K. Manoharan (Director of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare), Srinivasu Baidi, (Superintending Engineer, Ministry of Water Resources), Sivani Sharma (Director, Ministry of Power), Sravan Kumar Singh (Regional Officer, Ministry of Roads, Highways), Anil Kumar Singh (Union Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development), Kanna Babu (Commissioner, Disaster Management), Arun Kumar (Commissioner, Agriculture) and Chittoor Collector M. Hari Narayanan took part in the meeting.