Hyderabad, October 05: The massive flood in the Krishna wreaked havoc in Krishna, Guntur and Nalgonda districts as enormous quantities of water were released from Nagarjunasagar dam and Vijayawada’s Prakasam Barrage inundating about 400 villages, including all island habitations, and rendering over 4 lakh people homeless.
Nandyal town in Kurnool district was engulfed by the swollen Kundu river on its outskirts which overflowed into the town and over 40 villages around as water from the Krishna joined it.
A large portion of the railway track near the town was washed away disrupting train services.
Panic in Mantralayam
Although the situation in Kurnool and Mahabubnagar districts improved after water began receded, people in the temple town of Mantraylayam became panicky and ran helter skelter in the evening following rumours that Tungabhadra dam at Hospet developed a breach.
A tense situation prevailed in Krishna, Guntur and Nalgonda districts where the Krishna rose menacingly and flowed into the villages.
In Nalgonda, only the tip of the famous Lakshminarasimha temple at Mattampalli in Nalgonda district was visible after the Krishna overran it. In Guntur district, the Buddhist centre of Amaravathi was cut off and about 50 villages abutting were faced with the same fate.
Traffic on the high level road-bridge that connects Hyderabad to Guntur was held up for 5 km on either side following huge crowds that thronged the area to see the spectacle of Nagarjunasagar releasing a high outflow of over 10 lakh cusecs.
Fear grips officials
In Krishna district, the river water flowed into Budameru, a dangerous drain that, in turn, flooded several areas in Vijayawada. The river also overflowed onto the Hyderabad-Vijayawada highway in Kanchikacherla, Ibrahimpatnam and other places. Fear gripped officials about the safety of the cooling tower of Vijayawada Thermal Power Station.
People in their thousands lined up on the banks of the Krishna as it flowed down from the Prakasam Barrage, engulfing villages. The aqueduct across the river at Puligadda from where the Krishna estuary begins was flooded as were a number of villages in Koduru and Avanigadda areas. Two persons found on a hay stack floating in the river were rescued by army chopper.
Aerial survey
Chief Minister K. Rosaiah undertook an aerial survey accompanied by Revenue Minister D. Prasada Rao. Meanwhile, rescue and relief operations were in full swing with 10 helicopters, 200 boats, and over 1,200 personnel of the Army and National Disaster Management Response Force.
Sonia’s visit today
AICC president Sonia Gandhi and the Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram are arriving here on Monday morning to undertake an aerial survey of the devastation.
Mr. Rosaiah, who appeared relieved after two days of tension, said the inflows into Srisailam reservoir came down to 9.31 lakh cusecs by 7 p.m. from 11.68 lakh cusecs in the afternoon. The inflows into Tungabhadra, Jurala, Nagarjunasagar and other projects too dipped considerably, but there was pressure on the Prakasam barrage that was receiving heavy inflows.
“Some MLAs have expressed doubts about the capacity of the Krishna river embankments to withstand discharge of huge quantities of water. But the officials confirmed that there is no problem till 10.5 lakh cusecs,” he said exuding confidence that the situation at Prakasam barrage too would return to normality.
Bangalore: A 500-metre-long bridge across the Tungabhadra river near Gilkesugur village, 32 km from Raichur, was washed away in flash floods in Karnataka, even as the situation eased in Gulbarga, Bijapur, Bellary and Raichur districts of the State with the water-level in the Krishna, Tungabhadra and several streams and rivulets receding on Sunday.
The road link between Raichur and other cities like Adoni, Kurnool and Yemmiganur in Andhra Pradhesh and Bellary in Karnataka has been cut off. Nearly 1.80 lakh people, who have been rendered homeless following unprecedented rains in north Karnataka, have been provided accommodation in 589 relief camps in different districts. The death toll in the rain has touched 168. Food packets and medicines were airdropped in several areas on Sunday.
-Agencies