The low-lying areas in Krishna and NTR districts of Andhra Pradesh are once again facing the threat of inundation as the Krishna river is in spate. The first flood warning has been issued by the authorities concerned on October 15 as the flood discharge at Prakasam Barrage touched 3.97 lakh cusecs in the early hours and reached 4.5 lakh cusecs by 9 a.m. as per the Water Resources Department website.
The discharge was steady at 4.5 lakh cusecs at 5 p.m. The first flood warning was issued for the fourth time this year since August and several areas bore the brunt of the floods.
Several areas alongside the river course in NTR and Krishna districts have been flooded since Friday night. Water entered residential areas of Ranigari Thota and others in Krishnalanka following the rise in the flood level.
Villages in several mandals including Avanigadda, Nagayalanka, Ghantasala and Movva in Krishna district are also affected by the flood.
Meanwhile, heavy rainfall in these mandals added to the woes of the local people. In the last 24 hours as of 8.30 a.m. on Saturday, Krishna district received an average rainfall of 22 mm while Avanigadda mandal recorded 69.2 mm. It was followed by Penamaluru (40.4 mm), Challapalli (38.4 mm), Kruthivennu (36 mm), Guduru (35.4 mm), Mopidevi (30.4 mm), Machilipatnam (28.3 mm), Thotlavalluru (27.2 mm), and Gannavaram (25.6 mm). Other mandals received less than 22 mm of rainfall.
APSDMA alert
The Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) has alerted the officials of the districts concerned in view of the rising flood level in Krishna. In a release, APSDMA managing director B.R. Ambedkar said that the flood level was likely to rise further and asked the people residing in low-lying areas to take necessary precautions. He asked the authorities concerned to stay alert.
The second and last flood warning would be issued when the flood discharge crosses 5.69 lakh cusecs.
