As the water level in the Godavari and its tributaries, including Taliperu, continued to rise all along the river course in the district steadily owing to relentless rainfall in the river’s upper reaches, the district administration has set up a control room to tackle any flood exigency.
The move was necessitated in the wake of the unabated intermittent heavy showers in most parts of the district and the forecast of heavy rains in the next two days, sources said.
The 24x7 control room at the Collectorate in Kothagudem will facilitate swift response to deal with any flood event and address rain-related issues with an inter-departmental approach.
The control room can be reached at 08744 241950.
In Dummugudem mandal, the floodwaters of the Sitavagu, a tributary of the Godavari, inundated a portion of the Narachirala site at Parnasala, the famous pilgrim centre, about 32 km from the temple town of Bhadrachalam, sources said.
The water level in the Godavari at Bhadrachalam is hovering around 16 feet and is expected to increase further gradually by Friday evening, owing to the reported discharge of floodwaters from the reservoirs and dams in the upper reaches of the river, sources in the Irrigation department said.
A huge volume of floodwaters was let out from the Taliperu reservoir in Charla mandal into downstream by lifting as many as 11 crest gates of the reservoir on Thursday morning in view of heavy inflows from the catchment areas of the river.
Munneru swells
Meanwhile, the Munneru, a tributary of Krishna river, swelled up at various points along the river course in the old undivided Warangal and Khammam districts owing to heavy downpour.
Moderate to heavy rains lashed most parts of Khammam district overnight, causing waterlogging on several roads and cutting off road link to some villages in Wyra and Raghunadhapalem mandals on Thursday afternoon.
The swollen streams inundated portions of several roads, snapping road link between Papatapalli and V R Banjara villages in Raghunadhapalem mandal and Snanala Lakshmipuram and K G Siripuram in Wyra mandal.
Khammam District Collector V.P. Gautham on Thursday evening conducted a tele-conference with the tahsildars and other mandal level officials to review the rain situation and tackle any rain-related emergency. He called upon people to dial the toll-free helpline number 1077 for any assistance.