West Godavari, Kakinada, Eluru Collectors on alert to mitigate loss
District Collectorates of West Godavari, Kakinada, Eluru, and Konaseema were put on alert. There are around 118 villages in the Godavari delta and irrigation authorities are monitoring all river bunds spread across the length of 538 km in the Godavari river belt.
The first warning was issued at Bhadrachalam on Sunday after the floodwater level crossed the 43-ft mark. Subsequently, Eluru district Collector K Vetri Selvi directed officials to shift the people from flood-prone villages of Kukunoor and Velerupadu mandals to relief camps.
The Collector and other officials, monitored the shifting of people to relief camps. Revenue and police officials were directed to coordinate with irrigation department officials to take up relief works in other villages as well. As culverts at Gommugudem and Lachigudem villages of Kukunoor mandal submerged in the floodwater, road connectivity to those areas was cut off. As many as 250 families in Gommugudem were shifted to the R&R (Rehabilitation and Resettlement) colony in Daracharma and 47 families of Lachigudem were provided temporary shelters at a hillock with ration and water sufficient for three days. Tarpaulin sheets were provided to 15 families whose houses were damaged in the rains. Additionally, 12 flood-affected villages in Kukunoor and Velerupadu mandals were provided two lakh water packets in the last three days. Currently, water is being supplied with the help of tanks, which make 18 trips a day.
On the Collector’s directions, nine months pregnant M Seetha from Velerupadu mandal, and two nursing mothers from Kukunoor mandal were shifted to Jangareddygudem government hospital. Two medical camps have been set up in Velerupadu and Kukunoor mandals.
Fear has once again gripped people in flood-prone areas of Alluri Sitharama Raju district, Dr BR Ambedkar Konaseema, Eluru, East and West Godavari districts, who had witnessed the fury of River Godavari in 2022. As Sabari River swelled, the roads between Chintur and VR Puram, Chintur, and Chatti in ASR district were submerged.
