Four persons died — three in Alluri Sitarama Raju district and one in Eluru district, and one went missing in West Godavari district following unprecedented floods in the Godavari in Andhra Pradesh, officials said on Tuesday.
The condition of a boy being treated for snakebite at a hospital in West Godavari district was said to be critical.
“We have retrieved three bodies in the Agency habitations of Alluri Sitarama Raju district on the borders of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana while taking up relief operations,” Zahid Khan, Commandant, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) 10 th Battalion, told The Hindu.
“We have deployed 29 teams — 13 in Telangana, 10 in Andhra Pradesh, five in Karnataka and one in Yanam,” Mr. Zahid Khan said.
Meanwhile, West Godavari district Collector P. Prasanthi said a villager went missing in the floodwaters and expert swimmers were searching for him.
Special Officer K. Bhaskar, who was deployed for monitoring the relief and rescue operations in Eluru district, said a villager drowned while fishing in the Godavari.
Many habitations continued to be under a sheet of water for the seventh day at Narsapuram, Elamanchili, and Achanta mandals in West Godavari and Kukunur and Velerupadu mandals in Eluru district.
Supply of essential goods
Officials were distributing food packets, milk, bread, biscuits, drinking water sachets, chlorine tablets, rice, dal, edible oil, cooking gas, vegetables and other essential goods to the flood victims.
“We are using boats to distribute food packets to the flood victims. About 120 boats have been deployed for rescuing villages and to supply food,” Ms. Prasanthi said.
In the Agency areas, Indian Navy choppers were pressed into service to supply food to the stranded victims,” said Eluru district Collector V. Prasanna Venkatesh.
“Cooked food packets are being air dropped to the villagers in Koida, Chigurumamidi, Perantallapalli, Tekupalli, Kakisanur, Pusalagondi, Siddaram, Katukuru, Tekuru, Kothuru, Rudramkota, Tatukurugommu, Sivakasipuram and other habitations,” he said.
