Godavari river hits 70 ft mark, Army joins rescue operations

Even as the state got a respite from rains, the eastern Telangana district of Bhadradri Kothagudem remained the worst affected by floods. The water levels in Godavari river continued to swell on Friday and touched 70 feet a little after 3 pm. The river breached the third level warning of 53 feet four days ago and was flowing at 67 feet at around 11 am Friday. The last time the Godavari river had breached the 60-feet mark here was in August 2020.

Sensing that the worst is not yet over, the state government has requested the assistance of the Indian Army. For the first time after the October 2020 floods in Hyderabad, a column of Army personnel including 101 men, of whom 68 are from the infantry, 10 medical professionals, and 23 engineers have left for Bhadradri Kothagudem district. They will be capable of operating as five independent teams, according to a statement from Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar.

Rahul Bojja, secretary (disaster management), said that Bhadradri Kothagudem is the only district facing a flood situation as of now. “Till morning, 7,000 people in 70 villages were evacuated. In terms of relief, there are three National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams in Bhadradri Kothagudem district, three more NDRF teams are joining in from nearby Mulugu, Bhupalpally, and Peddapalli districts. Four more NDRF teams are being flown in from Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir. People living in low-lying areas all along the banks of the river have been relocated to safer places as a precaution,” he said.

Superintendent of Police, Bhadradri Kothagudem, G Vineeth said the intensity of influx of flood waters from the catchments has started to decline. “At the moment, it is about 70 feet. We are expecting water levels to rise another 4 feet by late evening or night. There is no loss of life reported.

Further, four special boats along with men from the tourism department and seven boats along with 210 life jackets and life boys were deployed in rescue and relief operations. As of Thursday evening, a government statement said, around 19,071 people in Bhadradri Kothagudem, Mulugu, Jayashankar Bhupalpally and Peddapalli districts were shifted to relief camps across the state.

The state government has deputed N Sridhar, MD of Singareni Collieries, as a special officer to monitor the relief operations in the district. The infrastructure available with the Singareni Collieries will also be pressed into service at Bhadrachalam for flood relief operations.

According to India Meteorological Department (IMD)-Hyderabad, there is no rainfall warning for any districts in the state for Friday and Saturday. On Friday noon, IMD issued a yellow warning for several districts between July 17 and 19. In different flood-related incidents, 15 people have lost their lives in the last seven days.