As the Godavari touched the second highest flood level of 71 feet after 32 years and inched towards the highest ever flood level of 75.6 feet of 1986 at Telangana’s Bhadrachalam on Friday night, the State government requisitioned the services of the Indian Army to aid the civil administration in the relief and rescue efforts.
More than 20,900 people from 95 flood affected/prone villages in nine mandals, including Bhadrachalam town, in Telangana’s tribal majority district have been moved to 77 relief camps in a major evacuation drive to ward off trouble.
With the Godavari receiving unprecedented inflows to the tune of 23.70 lakh cusecs, the situation in Bhadrachalam turned grim as the floodwaters gushed into various low-lying areas, including all the streets leading to the historic Sri Sitaramachandra Swamy temple dating back to 17th century.
The temple town and the entire Bhadrachalam Agency is grappling with the worst deluge in more than three decades.
The deluge submerged thousands of acres of agricultural lands, electricity poles and transformers and other vital installations, wreaking havoc in the predominantly tribal district, bordering Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
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More than 100 villages mostly comprising the riverside tribal habitations in Dummugudem, Charla and other Agency mandals were worst hit by the massive floods which ravaged their habitations causing enormous loss of property in the past three days. The inundation of electricity poles and transformers besides disconnection of power supply as a safety measure plunged hundreds of villages in Dummugdem and Charla mandals into darkness, sources added.
The entire Bhadrachalam Agency remained cut off from the rest of the world due to snapping of road links by the raging floodwaters. The temple town remained out of bounds for the second day in a row.
Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar briefed Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao about the flood situation and the evacuation operation by the district administration to prevent loss of life.
All the top officials of the Revenue, Police and other government departments have been camping in Bhadrachalam to oversee the relief and rescue efforts. A helicopter is expected to arrive in the temple town on Saturday morning to meet any exigency.
Meanwhile, five teams comprising 101 Army personnel, including 10 medical professionals and 23 engineers, and rescue teams from the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) have arrived in Bhadrachalam Agency on Friday night to help the authorities in rescue efforts. As many as 10 NDRF teams have been deployed in Bhadrachalam Agency and elsewhere in the flood prone areas in the district.
