Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s previous experience in managing the crisis arising out of cyclones and floods in the state has come in handy during the latest floods that wreaked havoc in Vijayawada and its surroundings, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
Right from the day one, Naidu led the battle from the front to tackle the crisis arising out of the floods – Krishna river at Prakasam barrage at Vijayawada received the largest-ever inflow of 11.49 lakh cusecs in the past 170 years and Budameru river on the northern side that caused the biggest devastation in the city after 1964, they added.
For 10 days, starting September 1, when the floods ravaged most parts of the city, Naidu spent his days on the flooded streets of Vijayawada. During this period, he did not go to his home at Undavalli in Amaravati and operated from the NTR district collector’s office at Vijayawada, which he converted into his camp office, officials said.
Naidu cancelled all his programmes and focussed on reviewing the situation in various parts of the state and also the relief measures being taken up. He visited a few rain-affected areas of Vijayawada to oversee relief work, officials said.
On the intervening night of August 31 and September 1, Vijayawada witnessed 290mm of rain in a span of 12 hours and it was then that the city witnessed the biggest devastating floods. Naidu left his Undavalli house in the morning of September 1 and he moved into his caravan and went to the NTR district collectorate at Vijayawada, they said.
“For the CM, his caravan itself became his home, where he would sleep for a few hours late in the night, get ready in the early hours and begin touring the flood-hit areas, in whatever mode of transport he had,” state revenue minister Anagani Satya Prasad said.
Naidu reached out to people in the colonies such as Singh Nagar, Jakkampudi Colony and Chitti Nagar by travelling on boats. To reach out to some areas, he even travelled on earthmovers and tractors, officials said.
At times, he waded through knee-deep water and personally monitored relief and rescue operations. He would address post-midnight press conferences from the field, get feedback from the officials and give directions to them, besides handling the ire of the agitated flood victims and pacifying them, officials said.
“The CM did not go home even for celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi festival on September 7 and offered puja on the premises of the collector’s office. He refused to even celebrate his wedding anniversary on September 10,” Prasad said.
According to political analyst and author Ramesh Kandula, Naidu’s immense experience in handling such floods and cyclones – like the devastating super cyclone of 1996 in Konaseema, Hud Hud cyclone in Visakhapatnam of 2014 and Titli cyclone of 2018 in North Andhra – has helped him tackle the present floods.
“Compared to the past, Naidu used technology in handling the flood situation in Vijayawada now. For example, he made extensive use of drones to carry food packets and medicines to the interior areas of flood-affected areas,” Kandula said.
Besides, Naidu appointed 32 senior IAS officers as in-charge of food distribution and evacuation operations by dividing the entire flood area into 32 divisions. In addition, the chief minister designated 179 officials to take care of relief measures.
“He also took some innovative decisions – like bringing fire engines from all parts of the state to Vijayawada and used them in taking up cleaning operations and clearing of garbage and slush after the floods receded. Besides, they also helped the administration in taking up fogging operations. This resulted in prevention of spread of communicable diseases in the flood-hit areas,” Kandula said.
YSR Congress party, however, described Naidu’s claim of personally monitoring the flood situation as mere publicity gimmick. “Naidu seemed more focused on managing his public image in the media than addressing the critical flood management issues,” YSRCP leader and former agriculture minister K Kanna Babu said.
