Surplus Krishna water enters Kadapa district

Former chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy’s promise to bring the Krishna water to facilitate irrigation for farmers in the Kadapa district will materialise as the river water entered the district on Sunday.

The surplus Krishna water reached Owk reservoir from Srisailam in Kurnool district, and will reach Mylavaram project within 24 hours. YSR had set the foundation stone for Galeru Nagari Sujala Sravanti (GNSS) project, and initiated the project as part of Jalayagnam in 2004.

The Gandikota reservoir was planned to bring surplus Krishna river water to Kadapa district through this project. According to the scheme, Krishna water was to be brought to the Owk reservoir from Srisailam, en route to Pothireddypadu head regulator, and was to be sent from the reservoir to various tanks in Kadapa district before reaching the Myalvaram project.

The state government came forward to provide drinking water temporarily to residents in Kadapa district to cope with water scarcity problem in the ensuing summer through Owk and Mylavaram water bodies. The restoration wo-rk of 51-kilometre long canal between Owk and Myalvaram reservoirs was completed. The officials decided to release 2 tmc ft water to the Mylavaram project from Owk reservoir as water stood at 22 ft. But officials are releasing only 1 tmc ft of water. At present water capacity in the Myla-varam project is 1.6 tmc ft.

No ‘sparsa darshan’ at Srisailam temple

 

Sivaratri arrangements reviewed

KURNOOL: Collector Mukesh Kumar Meena asked the temple staff and government officials to complete the arrangements at Srisailam by February 8.

The temple will suspend ‘sparsa darshan’ (worship by touching the Siva lingam) between February 8 and 13 to clear the pilgrim rush without causing inconvenience to others. The darshan which is unique at Srisailam would resume on February 14.

Mr. Meena said the officials should ensure vehicles were parked only at five slots designated at the temple town. Also, mobile police units would be deployed to avoid traffic jams on the ghat section.

The APSRTC planned to deploy 800 buses. The Road and Buildings officials were asked to complete road repairs soon.

‘Laddu’ tickets

The temple authorities made arrangements for issuing of ‘laddu’ tickets at the queue itself so that pilgrims could easily collect the ‘prasadam’ from the special counters. Five medical teams would function in shifts. A contingent of 650 sanitation staff would work for one week. The Collector asked the RDO to inspect conditions in eateries and the prices.

Free treatment for flood victims

  KURNOOL: G. Kullayappa, retired professor of chest diseases offered free treatment to flood victims at his clinic in Maddur Nagar in the city. Dr. Kullayappa said the incidence of respiratory infections; asthma, cough, soar throat and pneumonia were on the rise aftermath the floods in the city. According to him, the patients suffering from diseases caused by environmental changes went up by 50 per cent in the city.

 He asked public to take precautionary measures to protect themselves from infections by washing hands frequently soon after returning home, boiling water before consuming it and wearing facial masks covering mouth and nose. People need not insist upon medicated masks but a piece of cloth around mouth and nose would do.

 He suggested that children and the aged suffering from diabetes and asthma be vaccinated against influenza as they could not fight the infection easily. Dr. Kullayappa said 5,000 patients were treated for respiratory related diseases at his free camps in the city so far. The doctor maintained that he was not collecting any fee from the patients who introduced themselves as flood-affected. Medicines were also given free of cost to the extent available in his clinic.

 On Saturday, Dr. Kullayappa who conducted a free camp at Baba Sanjivaiah Nagar, devoted much of the time to educate the patients about the preventive aspects saying that prevention saved money as well as from suffering.

 K.E. Srinivasa Murthy of Art of Living Kurnool Chapter were present.

 

Flood loss put at Rs. 12,800 crore

 

 

State submits data to Central team; says 20.72 lakh people have been affected in five districts

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Rs. 8,500 crore needed for permanent restoration works

State government seeks one lakh houses under Indira Awas Yojana

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In distress: CPI activists staging a demonstration for fresh loans in flood affected areas in Kurnool. —

KURNOOL: The State government has put the loss to various sectors due to floods at Rs. 12,800 crore.

Presenting the data in support of its claim to the Inter-ministerial Central team recently, the government contended that Mahabubnagar and Kurnool were the worst affected districts where rainfall was recorded 913 per cent and 486 per cent in excess of the normal rainfall in the two districts between September 29 and October 4.

Highest discharge

Srisailam received over 25 lakh cusec inflow on October 3 as against 26.8 lakh cusecs probable maximum flood predicted once in 10,000 years.

Prakasam Barrage at Vijayawada discharged 10.87 lakh cusecs on October 6 which was the highest in 106 years.

Sunkesula barrage across the Tungabhadra upstream of Kurnool received 9.5 lakh cusecs as against the maximum water Level of 5.5 lakh cusecs. A total of 20.72 lakh people were affected by floods in five districts- Kurnool, Mahabubnagar, Krishna, Guntur, Krishna and Nalgonda.

Ninety persons died, 2.14 lakh houses damaged including 1.08 lakh fully, and 1.06 lakh partially and crop on 2.41 lakh hectares was damaged. The loss to agriculture sector was put at Rs 857 crore. Kurnool district accounted for 58 per cent loss, Mahabubnagar 13 per cent, Krishna 11 per cent, Gunur 10.7 per cent and Nalgonda 3 per cent. The loss to the handloom sector was put at Rs. 872.44 lakh.

The government estimated that Rs. 8,500 crore would be required for permanent restoration which included Rs. 750 crore for housing, Rs 3500 crore for housing, Rs. 1,070 crore for roads and bridges, Rs. 2,277 crore for Panchayat Raj roads and Rs. 935 crore for urban infrastructure. The amount required for temporary restoration was Rs 2,200 crore.

The State government sought one lakh houses under IAY, involvement of public sector undertakings in the reconstruction of 25 villages which were completely washed away by providing 50,000 temporary shelters, Rs. 500 crore under Central Road Fund, Rs. 52 crore for seed subsidy and Rs. 1,000 crore under NREGA for employment generation.

96 mandals in 5 districts declared flood-affected

  HYDERABAD: The government on Wednesday declared as many as 96 mandals in Kurnool, Mahabubnagar, Krishna, Guntur and Nalgonda districts as flood-affected, extending relief package to them too as in the case of drought-hit areas.

 Based on the proposals made by Collectors, the government has also taken a decision to declare another 60 to 65 mandals in the districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Kadapa and Anantapur as flood-affected as loss of life and property was reported from these areas also following heavy rain.

 Chief Minister K. Rosaiah constituted a Task Force to formulate a project for restoration of damaged infrastructure in the flood-affected areas, for being posed to the World Bank for assistance. The Task Force has the disaster management commissioner, the chief executive officer, Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty, and secretaries of Municipal Administration and Finance departments as members. Of the 96 mandals covered by the declaration, the maximum number of 38 are in Kurnool district, including Kurnool town. Guntur district accounted for 20 mandals, Krishna 16, Mahabubnagar 15 and Nalgonda 7.

 

The declaration by the government came out at a time when the nine-member Central team completed a major part of its field visits in the flood-affected areas to assess the damage.

 

The government had declared 981 out of the 1,128 mandals in the State as drought-hit, extending a relief package to them.

 

The second Central team to assess the damage caused by the drought in these areas is visiting the State on November 3.

 

Disaster Management Commissioner S. Balasubramanyam told The Hindu that the relief package offered to drought-hit areas would be extended to flood-affected areas. Under the package, Input subsidy would be extended against damaged crops and old loans rescheduled and fresh loans given.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kurnool still sunk under garbage

 Hyderabad: Nearly 7,500 tonnes of muck is being removed every day, but the biggest-ever garbage cleaning operation in the state has failed to bring much respite for residents of flood-hit Kurnool.

This shows the enormity of the task at hand as the government sets about bringing life to normal in the areas that went under floodwaters last month. Though 25 days have passed since the floods receded in the town, the district administration is still finding it difficult to clear thousands of tonnes of garbage that has piled up on the streets.

About 50,000 houses were affected in the floods. The stinking streets with mounds of decomposed garbage in front of every house is spreading illness among the residents. Authorities have so far spent Rs 3.52 crore just to clean the garbage — which is more than what has been spent on the development in the town.

The government has engaged a principal secretary, four IAS officers, six municipal administration officers, 53 municipal commissioners and 2,700 sanitation staff to clean up the city.

This apart from deploying 275 tractors, 46 JCBs, 28 bulldozers, 35 fire engines, 60 water tankers, 10 gopher machines to clear drains and 500 bin-carts.

In the process, Kurnool has set a new record in handling the highest garbage in a day, surpassing the record of Greater Hyderabad Mu-nicipal Corporation, which has the capacity of removing about 3,200 tonnes of garbage every day. In Kurnool, the sanitation staff is removing about 7,500 tonnes of garbage every day.

37 flood-affected villages need relocation

KURNOOL: Thirty-seven villages, which were ravaged by Tungabhadra, need complete relocation and reconstruction.

Collector Mukesh Kumar Meena told The Hindu that the villagers were terrified by the huge quantity of water gushing through their homes and wanted to desert their old habitations and move to an elevated place. The administration estimated that 22,000 houses were required for the displaced families.

The government sanctioned an amount of Rs. 68,000 for each house. Unlike the other housing programmes, the construction of houses in flood-affected villages would be taken up by the government itself.

Land identified

Land suitable for taking up the massive housing programme was identified in each village.

However, the officials are waiting for the consent of the villagers at some places. The residents of many villages are reluctant to live at the same place fearing recurrence of such floods in future, if not now. At least their children or grandchildren would not be victims of future floods if they take a wise decision now. Moreover, construction of houses at a new location is less expensive than cleaning up the old premises.

Most of the houses built of mud walls collapsed soon after the flood water entered the villages. There is a vociferous demand from the residents to allow them construct new villages altogether.

A total of 195 villages were affected by the floods, but only 37 were badly damaged making it unfit for continuing there. Also, crops on 457 villages were damaged.

According to officials, 479 government schools and 79 private schools were flooded. A total of 80,000 students suffered in the flood and require 5.64 lakh textbooks.

People in no mood to celebrate

KURNOOL: Joy seems to be missing from the Deepavali celebrations in Kurnool.

Not a single shop of crackers was set up in the Old Town and the areas close to it. Otherwise, the outdoor stadium and STBC College ground would have been filled with rows of crackers shops. Only a few occasional shops were seen in Krishna Nagar. Even there people were reluctant to buy crackers. Mayor S. Raghurami Reddy appealed to the families who were in a position to go for festivity to be cautious because a huge number of families in the city were unable to celebrate it. Many homes have not yet been able to set up their kitchens after the floods as yet.

Shops in the Old City were being cleaned up at the moment. Some people opined that they should celebrate Deepavali, thanking god for keeping them alive even after such a huge disaster

Free coaching for minority students

HYDERABAD: The Centre for Educational Development of Minorities, OU, is offering free coaching for minority students appearing for Civil Service Prelims-2010, at Nizam College from November 2009 to April 2010. Candidates will be selected on the basis of an objective type screening test to be held on October 25.

The test will be held at Nizam College, Hyderabad; Osmania College, Kurnool; Andhra Muslim College, Guntur and RCEDM, AU campus in Vishakapatnam. Interested candidates can register their names at the test centres. More details can be had on 040-23210316. – Special Correspondent

Inter II year exam fee date extended

 

HYDERABAD: The Board of Intermediate Education on Friday announced extension of the due date for payment of examination fee for the second year Intermediate from October 12 to 19 without fine. October 26 is the last date for payment with a fine of Rs.100. The date has been extended in view of the floods in Mahabubnagar, Kurnool, Guntur and Krishna districts, said board secretary G. Balaramaiah.

Alert policemen saved villagers

But for the efforts of Kothapally police, many people in seven villages would have met watery grave

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KURNOOL: Amid the devastation left behind by the flood in Krishna, Tungabhadra and Hundri, residents of several submerged villages are all praise for the Sub Inspector and four constables of Kothapally police station who risked their lives to protect them.

But, for the valiant efforts of the SI B. Devendra Kumar and his colleagues, many people in seven villages of Kothapally mandal would have met watery grave in the surging backwaters of Srisailam reservoir on October 2.

During a tour of the flood-hit Chinna Gummadapuram, Musalamadugu, Yerramattam, Singarajapalle and Pathamadugula, the said many of them were sleeping when the policemen shouted at the top of their voice to run for our lives as flood water was fast entering the village.

“I ignored their advice but a constable literally pushed me out of my house. Otherwise, my family and I would have would have perished with my family,” Jayanna said recalling the nightmare. S. Anjaneyulu said the SI also gave a cellular phone and torch lights to the villagers for emergency purpose.

Relief yet to reach

The villagers are livid at the apathy of officials. “It is five days since the floods submerged our village, but not even a single official leave alone the local MRO has bothered to come and see our sufferings,” Anusuyamma of Singarajapalle bemoaned.

Mr. Devendra Kumar told this correspondent that he along with constables – M. D. Srinivas, B. V. S. Naik, Narayana and Lalit Kumar started off on three motor cycles in the wee hours of Friday alerting residents of Chinna Gummadapuram, Musalamadugu, Yerramattam, Singarajapalle and Pathamadugula about the impending danger and urged them to vacate their houses.

In every village, he mobilised all available tractors and made the people move to safer place.

In the process, the SI and his team were caught in flood waters at Sivapuram. “We were stuck for the next two days before we could be evacuated on Tuesday,” he noted.

The Sub Inspector said despite their efforts, 70-year old Lingamma of Musalamadugu was drowned as the locals returned to pick her up after shifting the other residents to safety.

As Paddy washed away in flood, rice price shoots up in AP

THE HINDU Flood victims formed like a human chain and proceeding to safer places to aviod further inundation of their village-Mummidivaram. Photo: S. Rambabu

With paddy crop having suffered a major damage in the flood in Andhra Pradesh, prices of rice has shot up by a minimum of Rs 400 per quintal over the last two days as unscrupulous traders have got back to hoarding.

The price of rice in retail market has jumped from Rs 36 a kg to Rs 40 a kg for the preferred varieties.

Rice stocks are not freely available even at enhanced price as a section of millers and wholesale traders have joined hands to create an artificial scarcity in the wake of reports that paddy production is likely to fall by 30 lakh tonnes this Kharif season.

Kurnool is famous for its Sona Masuri, one of the most-preferred rice varieties in the state. The district was supposed to produce over 14 lakh quintals of paddy this Kharif season as the cultivated area went up to 79,340 hectares.

However, the flood caused by Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers has left the paddy crop in over 50,000 hectares devastated.

The loss on this account, according to preliminary estimates, is put at over Rs 200 crore.

Kundanavolu village, where Sona Masuri paddy is extensively cultivated, presents a sordid picture now. “Not a grain of paddy is left now as the Tungabhadra flood has totally washed our crops away,” P Goud, a farmer, said.

Farmers expected a yield of about 35 quintals per hectare this season but now it has been reduced to nothing, Mr. Goud said.

The damage to paddy crop in Kurnool will have a telling impact on the rice market in the state as the most—preferred Sona Masuri will be virtually out of supply, market sources said.

Sensing this, unscrupulous traders have started hoarding the available stocks to create an artificial scarcity and there by jack up the prices.

Reports from Hyderabad suggest that some wholesalers have been sending away retail rice traders with a ‘no-stock’ plea while many have inflated the price up to Rs 400 a quintal.

The trend is expected to continue as output is unlikely to match demand in the coming days. “Won’t be surprised if the price touches Rs 50 or Rs 60 per kg very soon”, N Nagaraju, a trader, said.

In flood-ravaged Kurnool district, black-marketing of essential goods was rampant for more than three days after the flood.

Existing stocks of rice, redgram and other commodities were totally destroyed as shops suffered the brunt of the flood in Kurnool, Nandyal and other towns.

“But now the situation is back to normal as all roads to Kurnool having been opened and goods started coming in. We have also been raiding establishments that are hoarding stocks and selling them at exorbitant prices,” Kurnool Vigilance and Enforcement Officer S A V Prasada Rao told PTI.

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As Paddy washed away in flood, rice price shoots up in AP

THE HINDU Flood victims formed like a human chain and proceeding to safer places to aviod further inundation of their village-Mummidivaram. Photo: S. Rambabu

With paddy crop having suffered a major damage in the flood in Andhra Pradesh, prices of rice has shot up by a minimum of Rs 400 per quintal over the last two days as unscrupulous traders have got back to hoarding.

The price of rice in retail market has jumped from Rs 36 a kg to Rs 40 a kg for the preferred varieties.

Rice stocks are not freely available even at enhanced price as a section of millers and wholesale traders have joined hands to create an artificial scarcity in the wake of reports that paddy production is likely to fall by 30 lakh tonnes this Kharif season.

Kurnool is famous for its Sona Masuri, one of the most-preferred rice varieties in the state. The district was supposed to produce over 14 lakh quintals of paddy this Kharif season as the cultivated area went up to 79,340 hectares.

However, the flood caused by Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers has left the paddy crop in over 50,000 hectares devastated.

The loss on this account, according to preliminary estimates, is put at over Rs 200 crore.

Kundanavolu village, where Sona Masuri paddy is extensively cultivated, presents a sordid picture now. “Not a grain of paddy is left now as the Tungabhadra flood has totally washed our crops away,” P Goud, a farmer, said.

Farmers expected a yield of about 35 quintals per hectare this season but now it has been reduced to nothing, Mr. Goud said.

The damage to paddy crop in Kurnool will have a telling impact on the rice market in the state as the most—preferred Sona Masuri will be virtually out of supply, market sources said.

Sensing this, unscrupulous traders have started hoarding the available stocks to create an artificial scarcity and there by jack up the prices.

Reports from Hyderabad suggest that some wholesalers have been sending away retail rice traders with a ‘no-stock’ plea while many have inflated the price up to Rs 400 a quintal.

The trend is expected to continue as output is unlikely to match demand in the coming days. “Won’t be surprised if the price touches Rs 50 or Rs 60 per kg very soon”, N Nagaraju, a trader, said.

In flood-ravaged Kurnool district, black-marketing of essential goods was rampant for more than three days after the flood.

Existing stocks of rice, redgram and other commodities were totally destroyed as shops suffered the brunt of the flood in Kurnool, Nandyal and other towns.

“But now the situation is back to normal as all roads to Kurnool having been opened and goods started coming in. We have also been raiding establishments that are hoarding stocks and selling them at exorbitant prices,” Kurnool Vigilance and Enforcement Officer S A V Prasada Rao told PTI.

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YSR’s project sorrow of Andhra town

The Hindu People walking on the marooned railway track on the outskirts of Nandyal town in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh. Photo: Mohammed Yousuf

The controversial Pothireddypadu head regulator project which regulates flow of water from a dam and whose capacity was enhanced to 40,000 cusecs by late Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy despite strong opposition from all parties, has proved to be the sorrow of Nandyal town and many villages around in Kurnool district.

Nandyal, a town with a population of about two lakh, is not new to floods. River Kundu that flows along this town causes a deluge every other monsoon but never in the past has that been such a devastating flood as this year.

Kundu originates in the Orvakallu mandal of Kurnool district and traverses through constituencies like Nandyal, Aallagadda, Jammalamadugu, Mydukuru and Prodduturu and joins river Penna in neighbouring Kadapa district.

Kundu witnessed at least eight floods since 1994 but none of them caused any major destruction to properties except crops.

The Nandyal town never remains water-logged for more than 24 hours even during worst floods earlier. This time, however, it remained under a thick sheet of water for over six days, former minister N Md Farook, who hails from Nandyal, said.

Local Congress MP S P Y Reddy said the heavy discharge from the Pothireddypadu head regulator, where flood water from the Srisailam reservoir overflowed, has left Kundu flooded.

For many years, locals have been demanding that the government should take steps to check flooding of Kundu river.

In fact, a project to widen and deepen the river at Nandyal to prevent flooding of the town was sanctioned long ago and even the tenders for work worth Rs 75 crore were finalised.

There has been a problem because of some encroachments and litigation. We will soon sort out the problem and take up the work, the MP said.

Meanwhile, more than 2,500 families have taken shelter in relief camps put up by the district administration in various schools in the town, while more than 5,000 families went back to their houses.

As one steps into the town, one cannot avoid a thick layer of slush which built up because of the heavy flood.

Like in Kurnool town, the district headquarters, Nandyal too is stinking due to the mounds of filth that have piled up.

People have started rushing back home from relief camps to take stock of their belongings and begin the clean-up act as the flood water is receding in many colonies.

“I stayed in my relative’s house at Dhone (Dronachalam) for three days after the flood and returned only this afternoon with family. It will take at least a week or more for us to put the house back in order,” Venkata Reddy of Nadigadda area in the town said.

Some areas like Harijanawada, RTC bus station, Rani-Maharani Theatres junction and Saleem Nagar remain inundated.

The national highway connecting Nandyal and Guntur has been re-opened for traffic after remaining closed for more than five days.

Flood situation worsens in Andhra Pradesh

SHATTERED HOPE: A woman cries on seeing her submerged house at P. Garlapadu village, about 180 km from Hyderabad, in Mahabubnagar district of Andhra Pradesh on Sunday. Photo: AP

A 500-metre-long bridge across the Tungabhadra river near Gilkesugur village, 32 km from Raichur, was washed away in flash floods in Karnataka, even as the situation eased in Gulbarga, Bijapur, Bellary and Raichur districts of the State with the water-level in the Krishna, Tungabhadra and several streams and rivulets receding on Sunday.

However, the massive flood in the Krishna wreaked havoc in Krishna, Guntur and Nalgonda districts of Andhra Pradesh as enormous quantities of water were released from Nagarjunasagar dam and Vijayawada’s Prakasam Barrage inundating about 400 villages, including all island habitations, and rendering over 4 lakh people homeless.

The death toll in the two States rose to 205, a PTI report said. It said Karnataka accounted for all the 12 fresh deaths, taking the fatalities in the State to 168. A total of 37 people perished in Andhra Pradesh.

The road link between Raichur and other cities like Adoni, Kurnool and Yemmiganur in Andhra Pradhesh and Bellary in Karnataka has been cut off.

Nearly 1.80 lakh people, who have been rendered homeless following unprecedented rains in north Karnataka, have been provided accommodation in 589 relief camps in different districts. Food packets and medicines were airdropped in several areas.

Even as the rain havoc in six districts of the State has resulted in large scale destruction to private and public property, the Karnataka government has called upon all its employees not to go on leave for at least a month and focus all attention on providing relief to the affected people .

Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa accompanied by Minister for Revenue G. Karunakara Reddy is himself leading the relief and rescue operations. AICC president Sonia Gandhi and Union Minister for Home P. Chidambaram will conduct an aerial survey on Monday and Mr. Yeddyurappa along with State Home Minister V.S. Acharya and the Revenue Minister will accompany them.

The release of water from the Narayanpur dam has been reduced from 4.7 lakh cusecs to 3.11 lakh cusecs.

In Andhra Pradesh, the rain and floods have caused large-scale devastation at Mantralayam, 40 km from Raichur. The Brindavana of saint Raghavendra Swami is situated there. A major part of the structure around Raghavendra Swamy Mutt and buildings have been damaged, and materials stored in the mutt and nearby shops have been destroyed. Sixty-five cows at a “goshala” of the mutt died in the floods.

Nandyal town in Kurnool district was engulfed by the swollen Kundu river, which overflowed into the town and over 40 villages around it as water from the Krishna joined it. A large portion of the railway track near the town was washed away, disrupting train services.

Although the situation in Kurnool and Mahabubnagar districts improved after water began receding, people in Mantraylayam panicked and ran helter skelter in the evening following rumours that the Tungabhadra dam at Hospet developed a breach.

A tense situation prevailed in Krishna, Guntur and Nalgonda districts where the Krishna rose menacingly and flowed into the villages. In Nalgonda, the famous Lakshminarasimha temple at Mattapalli in Nalgonda district was partially submerged by the Krishna in spate. In Guntur district, the Buddhist centre of Amaravathi was cut off and about 50 villages abutting it were faced with the same fate.

Traffic on the high level road-bridge that connects Hyderabad to Guntur was held up for 5 km on either side as huge crowds thronged the area to see the spectacle of Nagarjunasagar releasing a high outflow of over 10 lakh cusecs.

In Krishna district, the river water flowed into Budameru, a dangerous drain that, in turn, flooded several areas in Vijayawada. The river also overflowed onto the Hyderabad-Vijayawada highway in Kanchikacherla, Ibrahimpatnam and other places. Officials were apprehensive about the safety of the cooling tower of Vijayawada Thermal Power Station.

Two persons found on a hay stack floating in the river were rescued by an Army chopper.

Chief Minister K. Rosaiah undertook an aerial survey accompanied by Revenue Minister D. Prasada Rao.

.Flood situation in Andhra turns grim, Mantralayam submerges

 

 

 

 

Flood gushes through Srisailam crest gates as the dam started handling 10 lakh cusecs on Thursday, which was the highest in last decade.

 

The flood situation in Kurnool and Mahabubnagar districts of Andhra Pradesh turned grim on Friday as large number of residential localities were submerged and there was heavy inflow of water into various reservoirs.

Though Chief Minister K. Rosaiah said no report of any death till late noon, scores of people in the remote areas of the two districts are believed to have gone missing as various rivers and rivulets were flowing at dangerous level.

Incessant rains and water coming into the Tungabhadra, Krishna and Handri rivers due to the heavy rains in upper riparian Karnataka resulted in a sheet of water enveloping a number of residential localities in Kurnool town and the district.

The government has set up relief camps on the outskirts of Kurnool and people are being rescued with over 15 boats, officials said. “We ran out of our home as water was entering the house menacingly. We have nothing with us. We don’t know how we feed our children,” a group of women said in Kurnool.

Mantralayam marooned

Mantralayam in Kurnool district, home to the renowned Raghavendra Swamy mutt, was submerged with water and people reached atop their houses to save themselves.

Mantralayam MLA B Balanagi Reddy was himself stuck on top of his house with a large number of people and was desperately seeking help, official sources said.

In Mahabubnagar district too, large number of villages were flooded with water, the sources said.

Meanwhile, water level was rising menacingly with heavy inflow of water coming into them in Srisailam, Jurala and other irrigation projects.

Eleven gates of the Srisailam dam have been opened as over 15 lakh cusecs of inflow was entering into it, an engineering official of the dam said.

Meanwhile, the government has rushed senior IAS officials to Kurnool, Mahabubnagar and Krishna districts to organise relief operations.

Four helicopters – three for Kurnool district and one for Mahabubnagar district – are being pressed into service to take up rescue and relief operations, officials said.

Arrangements have been made to provide food and water to the flood victims and also to evacuate them to safer places, they said.

.Two planeloads of relief material dispatched

75 expert divers from Cuttack also fly to Kurnool for rescue operations

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ANANTAPUR: The National Disaster Management and Relief Force (NDRMF) has rushed two planeloads of relief material along with 75 expert divers from Cuttack, Orissa State by flights belonging to Indian Air Force to Kurnool district, according to official sources.

The two IAF planes arrived at Puttaparthy Airport on Saturday. The material including 20 life-saving boats and jackets apart from 1 lakh water packets, 80,000 rice packets, 30,000 bread packets,50,000 bed sheets and 5,000 milk packets were downloaded from the aircrafts and sent by lorries to Kurnool on Saturday evening.

Sai Baba’s appeal

Meanwhile, Bhagavan Satya Sai Baba has in a statement appealed to Sai volunteers to rush to the beleaguered people of Kurnool district and help the district administration in the job of relief and rehabilitation. Collector B. Janardhan Reddy flagged off tonnes of relief material through Joint Collector Anitha Ramachandran to the people of Kurnool through 17 teams of volunteers carrying food and relief material. Joint Collector accompanied the teams to Kurnool. The relief and food materiel was donated by different sections of people including NGOs. The material including 10 country boats, 10,000 bread packets,20,000 water packets, 800 biscuit packets, 30,000 food packets 10,000 bed sheets and 1,000 milk packets etc.

.Rumours drive people to hills

 

 

 

Over 50,000 people move to Jagannatha Hill fearing Tungabhadra’s fury

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Rich families rent rooms in resorts near the hill and shift families along with cooks

Families which live in the open on the hill exposed to chill winds and occasional showers

 

 

Panic situation: People leaving Kurnool town fearing fresh round of floods on Saturday.

KURNOOL: Rumour mills are driving the psychologically battered residents of Kurnool to hillocks and to far off places. Three-fourths of the city has been vacated. The exodus started right from Friday midnight. The families having personal cars drove off to nearby towns like Dhone and Anantapur, which was considered safe and others ran to the Jagannatha Hill on the outskirts of the city.

Around 50,000 people were living in the open on the Jagannatha Hill, considered a safe place to protect from the second onslaught of Tungabhadra river. Rumours were spread that the city was going to be under water after the Srisailam dam was full as it was unable to discharge the flood corresponding to the inflows. The dam staff stopped giving correct statistics of inflow even to the press.

The rich families in the city rented the rooms in the resorts near the Hill and shifted the families along with cooks. On the other hand, the families which lived in the open on the hill were exposed to chill winds and occasional showers. The crowd faced the severe hardship in the absence of water and toilet facilities.

Danger zones

The administration remained mute to the midnight drama lending some credence to the rumours. Those who stayed back have been under pressure psychologically and were doubtful whether they were erring. The families from the “danger zone”, the areas which were flooded on Friday, were first to leave the place.

The families engaged whatever transport they could afford to ran away from the chasing waters. The administration and government came under criticism from the public for not making any formal announcements during the crisis period. The public were entirely depending upon inputs from the TV channels, which gave priority to frightening aspects rather than truth.

Subbarayudu, a retired engineer said all those localities which were submerged now should be considered danger zones but untouched areas were safe to live in. All those areas which had contour levels above 950 ft from the mean sea level were safe within the city.

However, the administration was not ready with the statistics of elevation levels of different places. Mr. Subbarayudu said Kurnool city was more or less at an altitude of 900 ft MSL. Some were higher than it.

According to his analysis, the Srisailam dam will have no control over the flood flowing above 902 ft level. The extra flood tries to escape downstream and only some areas will have backwater effect.

.Thousands marooned in Andhra Pradesh

Mantralayam, the famous shrine of Sri Raghavendra Swami located on the banks of Tungabhadra on the AP-Karnataka border was cut of from the rest of the State. Hundreds of pilgrims and the Peethadhipathi Sri Sushmeendra Swamiji and the Mantralayam MLA Y. Bala Nagi Reddy and his family were among those taking on the first floor of various buildings as the temple town was under six feet of water.

Thousands of people were marooned in nearly 30 villages in Kurnool and Mahabubnagar districts of Andhra Pradesh as the Tungabhadra and Krishna rivers received unprecedented inflows in the wake of heavy rains for the last four days.

Srisailam reservoir across the Krishna was receiving inflows of nearly 18 lakh cusecs of water. Much of this inflow was contributed by its tributary, the Tungabhadra, which was discharging 8.18 lakh cusecs. Sunkesula Barrage downstream in Kurnool district breached as it is not designed to handle such a massive inflow causing floods in several villages.

Mantralayam, the famous shrine of Sri Raghavendra Swami located on the banks of Tungabhadra on the AP-Karnataka border was cut of from the rest of the State. Hundreds of pilgrims and the Peethadhipathi Sri Sushmeendra Swamiji and the Mantralayam MLA Y. Bala Nagi Reddy and his family were among those taking on the first floor of various buildings as the temple town was under six feet of water. Two helicopters have been despatched to Mantralayam.

Kurnool city, once the capital of Andhra State, was reeling under floods from the Handri and Tungabhadra rivers. Several localities were under several feet of water forcing the authorities to evacuate the residents to safer places. Agriculture Minister N. Raghuveera Reddy, who was in Anantapur, was asked to rush to Kurnool.

As the situation in these two districts turned grim, the Army was called in to undertake relief and rescue operations. Four helicopters were despatched to the flood-hit areas. Six power boats of A. P. Tourism Development Corporation were also deployed.

The Government has sought the services of the National Disaster Response Force from Arakkonam in Tamil Nadu and about 120 personnel trained in disaster management are expected to arrive any time along with inflatable boats. Men of the A. P. Special Police have been placed at the disposal of the Kurnool and Mahabubnagar districts.

Nagarjunasagar, the last dam on the Krishna, was receiving inflows of nearly nine lakh cusecs of water on Friday morning and discharging five lakh cusecs. Once more flood water from Srisailam reaches this dam, the outflow is expected to increase steeply. Officials are now planning to evacuate people residing on the river bank in Guntur and Krishna districts, particularly Vijayawada, and several river islands in the estuary.

Revenue Minister D. Prasada Rao told reporters after Chief Minister K. Rosaiah reviewed the situation at a high-level meeting with officials that this was one of the worst-ever floods in the Krishna in the last 100 years.

.Floating city

 

People wade through a flooded street at Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh on Thursday.