As the flood in the Godavari started receding at Bhadrachalam, the district administration launched a major sanitation drive in the temple town to prevent outbreak of seasonal diseases.
The water level in the Godavari receded to 49 feet, three feet below the danger mark, at the temple town at 9 pm on Tuesday.
The sanitation staff embarked on a major exercise to spray bleaching powder and carry out fogging operations in low-lying areas of the temple town, where a large quantity of silt and garbage piled up emanating stench even as the floodwater started receding.
Hundreds of people of flood-affected areas of Bhadrachalam continued to stay in the relief camps even as the Godavari still flowed above the second flood warning level of 48 feet till reports last were received on Tuesday night.
Additional motors were pressed into service to pump out stagnant drain water at the Vista complex near the Karakatta (flood bank) on Tuesday morning, sources said.
Collector D Anudeep oversaw the sanitation drive in the temple town.
