Floods in the Godavari have left a trail of destruction upstream of the Polavaram irrigation project, inundating nearly 250 tribal habitations in the Chintoor Agency area in Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) district.
However, casualties have not been reported. At least 14,000 families have been affected in the Agency area, and they are being evacuated.
The Koya tribe is the worst-affected. Members of the tribe are setting up temporary shelters between Chintoor and V.R. Puram area.
“The evacuation of the 14,000 affected families by boats is in full swing. Of them, nearly 6,000 families are from Kunavaram mandal, and 4,000 families each from V.R. Puram and Chintoor mandals,” ASR district Collector Sumit Kumar said on July 29 (Saturday).
Dharna staged
Meanwhile, nearly 300 Koya tribal families of Kommuru in Chintoor mandal staged a protest in the floodwaters on the banks of the Sabari river demanding that their habitation be included the list of the most flood-affected villages.
The river, which originates in Chhattisgarh, enters Andhra Pradesh at Chintoor, and Kommuru is located on the tri-State border.
Fishermen inhabiting the islands located between the downstream of the Polavaram irrigation project and the Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage, were advised to cooperate with the officials in their evacuation process.
Advice to fishermen
The fisherfolk were also advised not to venture into the Godavari. “We are prepared to evacuate the fisherfolk from all the islands in the heart of the Godavari river as the flood level is on the rise at Bhadrachalam,” said Kovvuru Revenue Divisional Officer S. Mallibabu.
In Eluru district, 13,000 people belonging to 4,800 families were affected, and they were being rehabilitated in eight relief camps. At least 40 habitations were cut off from the mainland in the district.
In Konaseema, as many as eight mandals, including 25 islands, were affected. As per a flood bulletin, as many as 2,210 people had been evacuated. Horticulture crops in more than 370 hectares were under a sheet of water. At least 19 rehabilitation centres were opened.
Meanwhile, the inflows continue to rise at Bhadrachalam, where a third flood warning was in force as the water level reached 55.70 feet. At the Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage, the second flood warning was in force.
