With the water level in the Godavari rising again, people living in the low-lying areas were cautioned on Tuesday. The discharge from the Polavaram project and Sir Arthur Cotton (SAC) Barrage at Dowleswaram also increased.
The Central Water Commission (CWC) issued the first warning after the water level in the river reached 43.5 feet at Bhadrachalam in Telangana.
At the Polavaram project, water level upstream the spillway went up to 32.14 metre, while the discharge was put at about 6.73 lakh cusecs. Officials said that the water level at the SAC Barrage was rising and 7.38 lakh cusecs of water was discharged.
“Due to heavy rainfall in the catchment areas and overflowing tributaries, the water level in the Godavari is rising,” said a CWC official on Tuesday.
Many mandals in West Godavari district received good rainfall in the last 24 hours. Penugonda mandal recorded 36.2 mm rainfall, followed by Narsapuram (30.4 mm), Mogaltur (31.4 mm), Palakol (28.2 mm), Attili, Penumantra and Achanta mandals received more than 25 mm rain.
In Eluru district, 20.2 mm rainfall was recorded in Mudinepalli, followed by Velerupadu (18.6 mm) and Ganapavaram (17.2 mm). Koyyalagudem, Mandavalli, Kukunur, Kalidindi mandals received more than 10 mm precipitation, the officials said.
Student drowns
Meanwhile, an engineering student, N. Nagarjuna (20), who went to see the flood accidentally slipped and drowned in the Krishna River. The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel and the fishermen retrieved the body on Tuesday.
Nagarjuna was studying the final year of engineering in Koneru Lakshmaiah University. The incident occurred when he, along with his friends, went to Seetanagaram Pushkar Ghat to see the release of water from the Prakasam Barrage, said the police.
Alert sounded
Officials sounded alert for the habitations along the Godavari and the low-lying villages downstream in Eluru and West Godavari districts.
Many rivulets were overflowing in the Agency area due to the incessant rain in the last two days. Officials asked the villagers not to cross the overflowing rivulets or stay in dilapidated and thatched houses in the wake of heavy rain forecast in the next two days.
