The Godavari river and its tributaries were in spate due to persistent huge inflows from the catchment areas in neighbouring Maharashtra even as north Telangana districts witnessed incessant rains for the second consecutive day on Sunday.
As heavy flood reached the Medigadda (Lakshmi) barrage of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) in Jayashankar-Bhupalapally district from the reservoirs upstream, about 8.83 lakh cusecs of excess water was released downstream through 75 crest gates of the barrage.
With increasing inflows from the catchment areas of both the Godavari and Pranahita rivers, outflow from Medigadda barrage was expected to reach 10 lakh cusecs late on Sunday night, official sources said. In Mulugu district, authorities issued first flood warning in Eturunagaram Agency mandal as the Godavari crossed 14.83 metres on Sunday evening, sources added.
Following the discharge of a huge volume of flood water from all the projects in the upper reaches of Godavari, the water level in the river at Bhadrachalam in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district reached 39 feet, just four feet short of the first flood warning level of 43 feet, at 7 pm on Sunday.
The road link to Dandupeta village in Charla mandal of Bhadrachalam Agency was snapped following the submergence of a low-level culvert under a swollen stream on the Dandupeta-Kothapalli road in the border mandal. Sources said the Godavari may cross the first flood warning level at the temple town around Sunday midnight and rise steadily on Monday with an expected inflow of 12 lakh cusecs.
Anticipating further increase in the water level in Godavari at Bhadrachalam in the next 24 hours due to continuous heavy inflows from the Taliperu and other tributaries in the upper reaches, the authorities have instructed the sectoral officers to remain on high alert and be prepared with the evacuation plan as part of the flood contingency plan.
Collector D. Anudeep and Superintendent of Police G. Vineeth visited the bathing ghats along the Godavari in Bhadracham on Sunday evening. They made an on-spot assessement of the preventive measures to deal with flood emergency situation, if the need arises.
Meanwhile, a private tourist bus on its way to Kaleshwaram from Warangal got stuck in slush abutting the gravity canal of KLIS near the famous pilgrimage centre in Mahadevpur mandal on Sunday afternoon. Local police rushed to the spot and guided the passengers to safety, sources added. The bus was pulled out of the slushy terrain using a crane.
