Godavari, Krishna furious again; fresh flood threat to Telangana, AP

AMARAVATI: Both river Godavari and river Krishna are flowing furiously once again due to heavy inflows of rainwater posing a fresh threat of floods in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

A fresh spell of heavy rains in the upper catchment areas of the two rivers in Vidarbha and Chhattisgarh from Tuesday is the reason for the surge in inflows. Only recently, the two rivers showed signs of calming down after being in spate for a week.

Due to fresh floods to river Godavari, the inflows at Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage of Dowleswaram in Rajamahendravaram district (AP) and at Bhadrachalam in Telangana have registered a sharp rise. According to reports, the inflow at Dowleswaram is recorded as 14.20 lakh cusecs. The officials have released 10,500 cusecs of water downstream to preempt further swelling of water levels. As a precautionary measure, the authorities have deployed three SDRF and three NDRF teams for relief operations in P. Gannavaram, Ambedkar Konaseema district, Iyinavilli and Mamidikuduru respectively.

Similarly, the water level at Bhadrachalam has touched 54.5 feet prompting the authorities to issue a third danger warning. Water is being discharged downstream in tune with the inflows reaching it. Vehicular movement and road transport among Charla, Venkatapuram and Vajedu mandals has been stopped due to the increase in water level. Meanwhile, 48 spillway gates were lifted at the Polavaram project to discharge water coming from the upper reaches.

On the other hand, river Krishna has also been in spate due to constant inflow reaching the Srisailam project. A total of 3,17,735 cusecs of inflow is received by the Srisailam project from upstream Jurala and Sunkesula projects even as 3,77,373 cusecs of water was released to Nagarjuna Sagar by lifting 10 radial crest gates by about 12 feet. The water level in the reservoir has touched 883.90 feet with a water storage of 209.1509 TMCs. The power generation is also in full swing at the left and right hydro power plants of the project.

The Nagarjuna Sagar project received a flood of 4,07,580 cusecs with the water reaching 586.20 feet and filling the project upto 301.3570 TMC. About 19,283 cusecs of flood water was being released to the right and left canals of project while another 3,31,406 cusecs were being released through the spillway by raising six gates by five feet and 20 gates by 10 feet.

The Prakasam Barrage on river Krishna has received an inflow of 3.15,000 cusecs and the officials left 15,333 cusecs into the canals and another 2,76,150 cusecs into the sea.

The Vamsadhara river in Srikakulam is also in spate leading to floods at Gotta Barrage with an inflow and outflow of 30,712 cusecs. The MD of the Disaster Management Authority Department Dr BR Ambedkar advised people to be vigilant until the flood recedes.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Tuesday that another low pressure will form in the North Bay of Bengal on Friday (August 19) due to which there is a possibility of light to moderate rains at some places in North and South Coastal Andhra on August 19 and 20.