In an unprecedented situation in the history of 170-year-old Prakasam barrage on Krishna river in Andhra Pradesh’s Vijayawada, the state irrigation department authorities on Monday released 1.18 million cusecs of water from the barrage, which resulted in inundation of a large number of residential colonies in the low-lying areas of the city and several villages downstream of the river in Krishna district.
An official release from the state government stated that the heavy rainfall and the resulting floods resulted in death of 19 people and three others were still missing. The floods caused extensive damage to the road, power and building infrastructure, besides huge crop loss in as many as 20 districts.
State irrigation minister Nimmala Ramanaidu told reporters at the NTR district collector’s office in Vijayawada: “As per the records, it was for the first time in the history of Prakasam barrage since it was built in 1850s’ that as much as 1.18 million cusecs of Krishna water was released by opening all the 70 gates of the barrage to the maximum exent.”
“The last highest discharge of water from Prakasam barrage was 1,110,000 cusecs on October 5, 2009. But compared to the last time, this time, the flood water entered into a large number of areas abutting the river. Yet, we could avoid major losses due to timely intervention of the government and personal supervision by chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu in evacuating the people to safer areas,” Ramanaidu said.
As the officials were struggling to discharge an unprecedented flow into the Krishna river, three heavy sand-laden boats were swept away by the gushing floodwaters, colliding with the Prakasam barrage, causing significant damage to a pillar of the iconic barrage in the morning.
“One of the boats became stuck after striking gate no. 69, forcing its closure. Officials immediately responded, working tirelessly to clear the vessels that were lodged against the barrage. There is no threat to the barrage and it will be repaired soon after the floods recede,” the minister said.
According to the official bulletin, in all, 19 people died due to heavy rainfall and floods in the last three days. Five people died in a landslide of a hillock at Moghulrajapuram in Vijayawada, while one person each was washed away in Vijayawada rural and G Konduru and Reddygudem of Guntur district.
Similarly, a school teacher and two students were washed away at Uppalapadu in Guntur district, one woman died due to fall of boulders on her house at Mangalagiri town and another person was washed away in Kondaveedu vagu at Ponnekallu in Guntur district. Similarly, two deaths were reported from Pedakakani due to inundation in water, one body was found in deep water flow at Nandivelugu road in the same district.
In Prakasam district, three children died due to drowning in flowing water at Markapur.
Besides loss of human lives, the bulletin said there was a huge loss of life of cattle and poultry, besides damages to 177.67 km length of roads, as many as 25 breachers to various streams and canals and destruction of 26 panchayat raj buildings.
Nearly 450,000 people were affected by the unprecedented rainfall and floods in Andhra Pradesh over the past three days, leading to the evacuation of 41,927 people to 176 relief camps and 171 medical camps were set up to provide healthcare facilities to the affected people.
Due to incessant rains in Vijayawada, 275 trains were cancelled, 149 trains were diverted and 12 trains were partially cancelled.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) deployed two IL-76 aircraft from Halwara and Bhatinda to airlift more than 200 NDRF personnel and tons of relief material to Vijayawada and Shamshabad to help aid the NDRF efforts in Andhra Pradesh, the Indian Air Force Media Co-ordination Centre said on Monday.
In a post on X, the Indian Air Force (IAF) confirmed that the two aircraft were used to airlift 242 NDRF personnel and 30 tons of relief materials for the state and multiple helicopters are also on standby.
As many as 20 state disaster response force (SDRF) and 19 national disaster response force (NDRF) teams are engaged in relief and rescue operations. Two more SDRF and nine NDRF teams are also being pressed into service.
As per the request of Guntur and NTR district administrations, the Indian Navy agreed to deploy two choppers for search and rescue operations in the affected areas; one of which has already arrived in Vijayawada, said the release.
The state government also requested for six helicopters to airlift stranded people and drop food packets, along with 10 NDRF and 40 motor boats for search and rescue operations in the affected districts.
Meanwhile, the chief minister personally supervised relief and rescue operations all through the night of Sunday and again on Monday morning. From 2 am on Monday, Naidu went around the flood-ravaged areas of Ajith Singh Nagar, Krishna Lanka, Ibrahimpatnam, Ferry, Jupudi, and Moolapadu.
At Jupudi and Moolapadu, where floodwaters entered homes, Naidu personally met with affected residents, walking the flooded streets at midnight to understand their needs.
He appealed to the people not to get panicky as the government will stand by them till the floods recede. He asked them to follow the prescribed precautions. Naidu also advised residents to use the toll-free number provided by the government to access information and support, stressing that no one should feel helpless or impatient.
Apart from Naidu, several of his cabinet colleagues and senior IAS and IPS officers extensively toured the flood hit areas and ensured supply of food packets and water using choppers and drones.
YSR Congress Party president and former chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy also visited the inundated areas of Krishnalanka and Singh Nagar in Vijayawada and interacted with the locals. He assured that he would bring their problems to the notice of the government.
