Vehicular movement resumed on the vital bridge across the Penganga river on National Highway 44 at Dollara in Adilabad district’s Jainad mandal on Sunday morning, after remaining suspended for nearly 12 hours as the floodwaters almost touched the 50-foot-high bridge on Saturday night.
Traffic movement was suspended on the bridge near the inter-State border with Maharashtra late on Saturday night as a precautionary measure following sharp surge in the water level of the Penganga under the bridge.
Scores of vehicles were stranded on both sides of the bridge for hours, causing severe hardships to commuters. Traffic was allowed around 10 am on Sunday after the floodwaters in the river slightly receded below the bridge, sources added.
The heavy discharge of surplus waters from the projects in upstream has led to a sudden surge in water levels in the Penganga and other rivers and streams in the district in the last 24 hours.
The swirling floodwaters reportedly inundated vast tracts of agricultural fields in various villages of Bheempur, Jainad and Bela mandals and cut off road link to several far-flung villages in the district, sources said.
A flood control room (1800-425-1939) has been set up at the Collectorate in Adilabad.
According to sources, a resident of Vadur village in Tamsi mandal, who was stuck in the floodwaters of the Penganga, was rescued by local fishermen by responding to his distress call swiftly on Saturday evening.
Meanwhile, the water level in Godavari at Bhadrachalam of Bhadradri Kothagudem district hovered around the first flood warning level of 43 feet late in the evening after crossing the mark earlier in the day.
In view of the forecast of heavy rains in the upper reaches of the Godavari in the next two days, the district authorities have appointed a district-level special officer, divisional-level sectoral officers, and mandal-level special officers to oversee the flood relief and rehabilitation measures.
