With the floods in the Godavari reaching an alarming level in a few districts in Andhra Pradesh, instructions have been given to the police to help the affected people move to safer places, Director General of Police K.V. Rajendranath Reddy has said.
“The police have been deployed in all the flood-hit villages. They have been directed to coordinate with the officers concerned in taking up relief operations,” Mr. Rajendranath Reddy told The Hindu on July 30 (Sunday).
Mr. Rajendranath Reddy said the situation was being regularly monitored with the Superintendents of Police of the Eluru, Konaseema, Kakinada, East Godavari and Krishna districts, and the NTR District Police Commissioner.
The police officers were advised to be on alert as the flood level was rising in the Agency areas,. he said.
“The police personnel have been deployed on the boats that are pressed into services to evacuate people from the inundated areas. Instructions have been given to supply ration, medicines, milk, drinking water and other essential items to the flood victims. Pregnant women have been shifted to hospitals as a precautionary measure,” the DGP said.
The floods reached an alarming level at Velerupadu and Kukunur in Eluru district, V.R. Puram and Kunavaram in Alluri Seetharama Raju (ASR) district, and a few other mandals in Konaseema district, he said.
Police stations shifted
“In V.R. Puram and Kunavaram mandals, we have shifted the police stations to the upland areas as floodwaters entered the stations,” Mr. Rajendranath Reddy said.
“Effective coordination with the officers concerned has helped in preventing human loss. Personnel from the Police Department, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are working in tandem to evacuate the affected people to the rehabilitation centres and supply them essential commodities,” the DGP said.
“Women police have also been drafted for flood duty. Many women officers are camping in the affected habitations and taking part in the relief and rehabilitation operations,” he added.
