A flood alert has been sounded in the riverside villages in seven Agency mandals of the district as the Godavari inched closer to the second warning level of 48 feet at Bhadrachalam, following heavy downpour in the catchment areas of the river for the third consecutive day on Saturday.
After crossing the first warning level of 43 feet at 3.50 am in the temple-town on Saturday, the Godavari rose over three feet by late in the evening. The water level in the river reached 46 feet at 7 pm.
In view of the heavy inflows from the tributaries including Taliperu, the water level was expected to touch the second warning level in the next 12 hours, sources said.
The road link to several remote tribal habitations in Charla, Dummugudem, Allappalli, Gundala and Yellandu remained disrupted for the third day in a row as swollen streams overflowed approach roads and culverts in the interior tribal pockets.
Collector M V Reddy reviewed the flood preparedness and mitigation measures with officials of the Revenue and Irrigation departments through a teleconference in Kothagudem on Saturday.
He asked officials to remain alert and utilise the services of the NDRF, the Police and the Fire Services department to deal with any exigency arising out of the rise in water levels in the rivers, including the Godavari, Taliperu and the Kinnerasani.
In Khammam district, all the major rivers including the Munneru, Wyra and Akeru were in spate.
Helpline launched
Water-logging occurred in several low-lying areas along the banks of the Munneru in Khammam town, causing severe hardships to people living in the habitations close to the river’s floodplains.
Transport Minister P Ajay Kumar and Collector R V Karnan visited the low-lying areas in the town. A toll-free helpline number 1077 was launched to attend to rain-related incidents.