Krishna river in spate yet again

VIJAYAWADA: The first warning signal has been raised as floods in river Krishna crossed the four lakh cusecs mark at Prakasam Barrage in Vijayawada on Friday.With heavy inflows from Nagarjuna Sagar and Pulichintala projects, the flood levels at the barrage continued to increase. An alert was sounded for people in the low-lying areas of the city.

Taking stock of the situation, NTR district collector N Dilli Rao said the flood discharge rate from the barrage stood at 4.45 lakh cusecs in the evening even as flood levels were expected to rise further.During the last floods, 20,000 people from Krishna Lanka and its surrounding areas had to be shifted to relief camps. With a retaining wall along the river course downstream of the barrage in place, those areas were saved from inundation now.

In a press release, the collector said four low-lying places had been identified which could be inundated if the floods increased further. “VMC and irrigation officials have prepared 5,000 sand bags to address the situation. KE Canal engineers are monitoring the situation at the flood bank. At present, there is no need for an evacuation,” he added.

Krishna collector Ranjit Basha took stock of the flood situation and directed the officials to fortify the river bank. People were advised not to venture into the river and its canals and also not to take animals along the flood banks for grazing.