Hyderabad, October 07: The vulnerability of the flood banks of Krishna stood thoroughly exposed on Tuesday when they breached at some places while others threatened to cave in as the flood level in the Prakasam Barrage hovered well over the 10 lakh cusec mark.
People living in the river delta in Krishna and Guntur spent the day in fear as the inflow into the barrage remained at 10.80 lakh cusecs and the outflow 10.55 lakh cusecs till 6 p.m. The silver lining, however, was the government’s firm assurance that the outflow would come down significantly by Wednesday afternoon.
The government had given a similar commitment on Monday, but the outflow remained above one million cusecs. As a result, the river breached its embankment to an extent of over 20 metres at Pallepalem in Bhattiprolu mandal of Guntur district heaping misery on people in 10 villages. Repalle town too remained under threat of inundation.
Similarly, the left embankment in Krishna district gave in at Bandikollalanka in Mopidevi mandal forcing emergency evacuation of over one lakh people in surrounding villages. Another breach would have occurred at Hamsaladeevi where the river joins the sea, but for the alert villagers who instantly strengthened the bund with sand bags and mud.
The real picture of the damage will emerge only after the water recedes. It did in the case of Sunkesula, Kothaguda and Rajoli villages in Mahabunagar district which were flattened after the embankments of the barrage at Sunkesula were washed away to a stretch of nearly one km.
Authorities heaved a sigh of relief as the Krishna spared the two railway bridges in Vijayawada on which nearly 100 trains pass daily. Parts of Ibrahimpatnam, including the officers’ colony of Vijayawada Thermal Power Station, lay under five-foot deep water. Water still flowed over the stretch of Hyderabad-Vijayawada National Highway 9, but police said they would take a decision on Wednesday whether to allow traffic.
Work was in full swing to restore the breaches on the Hyderabad-Bangalore NH 7 near the Tungabhadra bridge and traffic likely to be restored early Wednesday.
After a high-level review of the flood situation by Chief Minister K. Rosaiah, Revenue Minister D. Prasada Rao said the death toll had reached 63 with Kurnool accounting for 38 deaths and Mahabubnagar 20. As many as 16 lakh people in 600 villages were affected. He said the government could not take up enumeration of the property losses till the water recedes. As the water receded in Kurnool and Mahabubnagar districts, authorities were grappling with the threat of outbreak of diseases.
-Agencies