The rain-swollen Godavari surged past the first flood warning level of 43 feet at Telangana’s famous temple town of Bhadrachalam on Thursday afternoon and swelled further, prompting the authorities to issue flood alert and start shifting people living in low-lying areas to temporary relief camps in the temple town. in Hyderabad, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao took stock of the situation and directed Chief Secretary A. Santhi Kumari to ensure official machinery was geared up for any eventuality.
The Godavari kept swelling at Bhadrachalam with the water level in the river hovering over 44 feet and about 9.79 lakh cusecs of flood water flowing downstream on Thursday night. The water level in the river is expected to reach 46 feet, just short of the second flood warning level of 48 feet, in the wee hours of Friday, official sources said.
The bathing ghats along the river, abutting the karakatta (flood bank) remained submerged and the backwaters from the swollen river entered the low-lying areas in the temple town.
