Minister for Water Resources (WR) P. Anil Kumar refuted the Telugu Desam Party charges that the flood at Prakasam Barrage was “man-made,” but former Water Resources Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao said that the flood levels could have been kept low if water was diverted right from the beginning through the Pottyreddipadu Head Regulator (PRP-HR).
Addressing the media, Mr. Anil Kumar said TDP leaders made confusing statements about the way the man-made flood was created. While some were saying that water was impounded in a big way to be released suddenly so that there was a flood, others said that water was released in advance to create a flood.
Contrary to the allegations, care was taken to ensure that the flood to Prakasam Barrage from the reservoirs upstream did not exceed the 8-lakh cusec mark. This was done even though there was a flood of 9.46 lakh cusecs in the river. If there was an intention to create a flood, a much more devastating deluge could have been created by holding 20 tmcft and releasing it all of a sudden, the Minister said.
‘There was time’
The flood cushion in the different reservoirs upstream the Prakasam Barrage was closely monitored by top officials and engineers of the WR Department, Mr. Anil Kumar said.
Commenting on the Minister’s statement, Mr. Umamaheswara Rao said the AP Water Resources Department had an 18-day advance notice of the flood but did not bother to divert the flood waters through PRP-HR. A great opportunity to fill the various reservoirs and schemes of Rayalaseema and some drought- prone coastal districts was also lost, Mr. Umamaheswara Rao said.
The criticism that several hundreds of houses were inundated just to inundate the house of Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly N. Chandrababu Naidu was too far-fetched, Mr. Anil Kumar said.
