Heavy RainFall Submerges Farmlands in Telangana, Flood Threat in Andhra’s Godavari Districts
Image Courtesy: Times of India
Hyderabad: Incessant rains in the last four days has led to flood like the situation in several parts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. As India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecasted rainfall till the end of August, thousands of people have been evacuated from low lying areas in East and West Godavari districts in Andhra Pradesh. Meanwhile, farmers in Telangana are staring at huge crop losses as thousands of acres of farmland are submerged.
For the week from August 20-26, the IMD forecast said “rainfall activity is very likely to be normal to above normal over most parts of the country, except Arunachal Pradesh, Assam & Meghalaya, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim and Bihar, where it is likely to be below normal.”
Telangana
On August 15, an 80-year-old woman and her daughter died as their mud house collapsed due to massive rainfall in Nagarkurnool district.
As per the state government estimate, the state’s cumulative rainfall during June 1 to August 17 was estimated as 713.6 mm against normal 498.6 with deviation of 43%.
Also read: 508 Deaths, 1.26 Crore People Affected by Floods Across India
Reportedly, almost all projects on Godavari and Krishna have been receiving heavy water flows. As per the preliminary estimates of the officials, about 50,000 acres of farmland in the state has been submerged across districts of Karimnagar, Mahbubabad, Warangal rural and urban, Khammam, Kothagudem-Bhadradri, Mulugu and Bhupalapally. These districts received two months of rainfall in just 72 hours, according to estimates.
On August 16, Hyderabad’s Hussainsagar lake exceeded its full tank capacity of 513.4 metres, recording 513.55 metres due to heavy rainfall in the city.
As several villages and urban places in different parts of the state have been inundated with rain water, officials have roped in the Disaster Response Force and set up rescue camps for people from submerged villages.
On Saturday, 10 farmers from Kundanpally village in Tekumatla mandal of Bhupalapally district were airlifted by Indian Air Force as they were stuck near overflowing Chali Vagu (Stream) when they went for their regular agriculture operations.
Andhra Pradesh
Nearly a hundred villages have been marooned with water flows from Godavari river in East and West Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh. Officials have deployed the State Disaster Response Force for rescue and relief operations.
As the rains are likely to continue, the situation may further worsen in the coming days. With the flood discharge from Dowleswaram barrage crossing 14.84 lakh cusecs, authorities issued two flood warning signals alerting people.
Light to moderate rains were recorded in several districts including Krishna, Guntur, Visakhapatnam and other coastal districts and in isolated places in Rayalaseema districts.
While the heavy rainfalls are due to the low pressure areas in Bay of Bengal and active South West Monsoon, IMD forecasted that a fresh low pressure area is likely to form over North Bay of Bengal around August 19.
Over 38 villages in Polavaram, Velerupadu and Kukkunoor mandals of West Godavari district remained cut off due to the flood surge. Reportedly, the flood water has also entered the spillway of Polavaram project and the Kademma outfall sluice near it remained submerged.
People in tribal regions in the two districts have been forced to move to hillocks to avoid floodwaters.
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