Normal life in far-flung Agency areas of the district was disrupted for the third day in a row, as several forest streams swollen by unabated rains swamped low level culverts on various stretches of rural roads in Dummugudem, Gundala, Charla and other Agency mandals on Monday.
As heavy rain continued to batter forest fringe areas on the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border, all rivulets including the Taliperu, one of the tributaries of the Godavari, and hill streams overflowed, snapping road connectivity to tribal habitations in Dummugudem and Charla mandals, sources said.
A swollen stream overflowed a low level causeway disrupting vehicular movement between Singavaram and Laxmipuram villages in Dummugudem mandal.
The water level in the Godavari swelled at Parnashala, the famous pilgrim centre in the mandal, following heavy inflow from the upper reaches of the river.
Heavy discharge of flood water from Taliperu reservoir in Charla mandal and continuous downpour in the catchment areas contributed to substantial rise in water level of the Godavari at Bhadrachalam. The water level reached the 23 feet mark (about 20 feet below the first flood warning level of 43 feet) at the temple town on Monday evening.
Sources said a portion of a wall of a double bedroom house under construction collapsed under the impact of continuous downpour at Danthelaboru village in Palvancha mandal on Monday. However, none was injured.
Coal production remained affected in all the opencast projects of the Singareni Collieries Company Limited in Kothagudem region for the third consecutive day on Monday.
In Khammam town, incessant rain caused waterlogging in low-lying localities, including the TNGOs Colony and Kalvavoddu areas.
Flood fear lurks
Persistent rain for the past three days has filled dried-up water bodies and brought joy to farmers, who had been struggling to save the standing cotton and other crops. In some ways, though, the belated showers disrupted normal life.
With more rain prediction, district authorities have sounded flood alert.
In Mangapet mandal, the Malluru rivulet received heavy inflow and washed away a temporary road cutting it off from Narsimhasagar, Shanagakunta and Puredupally villages. A huge tree collapsed in front of the primary health centre in Mangapet on Sunday, and locals breathed a sigh of relief as it did not happen on the main road.
Collector C. Narayana Reddy instructed district officials to remain available at their respective places of work and monitor the situation in villages.
He directed the District Education Officer to take note of the physical situation of old schools and take necessary action.
Eye on old buildings
With chances of damage to houses, school and anganwadi buildings as well as government offices due to continuous rainfall, he instructed them to be prepared for any rescue and rehabilitation operation that may be needed.
Mr. Reddy has asked officials of respective departments to be updated on breach of tanks, loss of PR and R&B roads over flow of local streams, breakdown of power supply etc. to avoid any untoward incidents. H
e has also advised the RDO and tahsildars to coordinate with all the departments and attend to restoration work wherever damages are reported. No leave will be sanctioned to the officials till the situation normalises, he said.
Mining hit
In Jayashankar-Bhupalpally district, the open cast mining was hit due to heavy rain. As against the normal 4,000 tonnes of coal extracted per day, only 188 tonnes was extracted on Friday and 770 tonnes on Saturday. On Sunday, however, the work was halted as the entire area was filled with rainwater.
Small streams were overflowing in many agency mandals and tiny tanks were filled to capacity, but the rainfall level was far from enough.
Sources said the amount of rain received would only help the standing cotton crop from withering away while paddy needs more water.
The farming community is praying for more rain to fill tanks to be able to irrigate their land and provide drinking water to cattle.
