Hundreds rescued from flood-hit Vijayawada, five choppers deployed

Vijayawada, Sep 2 : Hundreds of people from flood-hit parts of Andhra Pradesh's Vijayawada were rescued by NDRF and SDRF teams on Monday while five helicopters of the Indian Air Force and the Navy and nearly 190 boats were pressed into service for rescue and relief operations, officials said.

Three helicopters from the IAF and two from the Navy were deployed for airdropping food items and for airlifting people stranded in inundated areas. Drones were also being used to drop food packets in Singh Nagar, one of the worst-affected areas in Vijayawada.

Nineteen teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and 17 teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) were deployed for rescue and relief operations in NTR, Krishna and other districts, where heavy rains and floods during the last three days have claimed 19 lives, while two people were missing.

The heavy rains and floods have affected nearly 4.50 lakh people. More than two lakh people were affected in Vijayawada alone, where overflowing Budameru rivulet inundated several residential areas. Nearly 42,000 people from flood-affected areas were shifted to 176 relief camps. Authorities have set up 171 medical camps for them.

Authorities in Vijayawada were closely monitoring the situation in Krishna River due to unprecedented inflows.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who is camping in Vijayawada to monitor rescue and relief operations, visited Prakasam Barrage to assess the flood situation. Officials said 11.25 lakh cusecs of water were being released from 70 gates of the Prakasam Barrage. The second warning remained in force at the barrage, which has been closed for vehicular traffic.

Five wooden boats, which came in floods, got stuck in Gate Number 69 in the early hours of Monday. According to irrigation officials, the base of the pillar was also damaged. The Chief Minister discussed with officials the steps for the repair of the damaged gate. According to officials, 15 NDRF and nine SDRF teams were deployed in Vijayawada and other parts of the NTR district. The remaining teams were deployed in Guntur, Krishna, Eluru, Bapatla, and Palnadu districts.

Three more NDRF teams from Agartala and three SDRF teams from different places in the state were on their way to Vijayawada.

A total of 188 boats (152 motorised and 36 non-motorised) were deployed to evacuate people from inundated areas of Vijayawada and other parts of NTR district, Krishna and Bapatla Districts.

Minister for Water Resources Nimmala Ramanaidu termed the flood level in Krishna River as unprecedented. He said the flood this time was more intense than the floods of 1998 and 2009. He claimed that Budameru breached at three places due to negligence by the previous government as lining and extension works were not undertaken for five years.