Heavy rains trigger flood alert in north coastal Andhra

Visakhapatnam, Sep 8 : Heavy rains in parts of north coastal Andhra on Sunday triggered a flood alert even as Vijayawada and other areas affected by last week’s floods in the south coastal region are yet to fully recover.

North coastal districts on Sunday received heavy rainfall under the impact of a low-pressure area in the Bay of Bengal, inundating low-lying areas and throwing normal life out of gear.

Rivulets, tanks, and lakes were overflowing in some areas, cutting off road connectivity to remote villages.

As the Meteorological Department has forecast heavy rains on Monday, authorities in north coastal districts have declared a holiday for educational institutions on Monday. The Collectors of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli, Vizianagaram, and Alluri Sitharama Raju districts have declared holidays to educational institutions.

Heavy rains lashed Visakhapatnam city and several parts of the district. A landslide in the Gopalapatnam area in the port city sent panic among people. Municipal authorities alerted people living in houses on hillocks.

Authorities closed the road to Lambasingi village in Alluri Sitharama Raju district in view of the possibility of landslides due to heavy rain.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has alerted district administrations. Naidu, who is still camping in flood-hit Vijayawada to monitor relief works, held a teleconference with the district Collectors and other officials. The district Collectors provided details of rainfall, the situation and the preventive measures taken in in their respective districts. Naidu suggested to Collectors to remain alert by estimating the likely rainfall.

Some districts are likely to receive heavy rains on Sunday night and Monday.

As Eluru reservoir is likely to receive huge rains, Naidu asked officials to continuously monitor the water level in the project. He told officials to effectively manage the project by balancing the inflow and outflow. Naidu also wanted officials to ensure that there are no breaches to canals, lakes and drains.

The Chief Minister said in areas which are likely to receive heavy to very heavy rains, arrangements should be made for drinking water, food and medical camps. He asked officials to prevent the loss of lives by continuously alerting people. He said property loss could also be minimised with preventive measures.

Naidu said the officials may use drones to estimate crop loss, supply food to the affected people, and monitor the flood situation. People in low-lying areas should be convinced to move to relief camps and all facilities should be provided in the relief camps, he said.

Based on the severity of the situation, the Collectors may approach the Central Control Team for help. He said people should be sent alert messages about heavy rains and floods, and also asked officials to impose certain restrictions so that people do not endanger their lives while crossing rivulets and streams.

He said preventive measures should also be taken to ensure that those going for Ganesh immersion do not get drowned or washed away.

In Eluru district, 2,000 people from low-lying areas have been shifted to relief camps.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan reviewed the flood situation in Eluru district. He asked officials to alert people in low-lying areas and said funds would be made available for the measures to be taken at the district level to help flood-affected people.

Pawan Kalyan held a review meeting with Kakinada district Collector and other officials on preventive measures and the situation in inundated villages in view of the increase in water flow at Eluru reservoir and the flood threat due to heavy rains.

Eluru reservoir has a capacity of 24 TMC while the current storage has reached 21 TMC.

Pawan Kalyan asked officials of the Irrigation, Revenue, Police, Agriculture, Panchayat Raj, Electricity, and Medical and Health Departments to remain alert.