At least 16 motor boats and three tourist boats have been deployed to intensify the evacuation operation and to avoid any untoward incident in the East Godavari Agency area as the Godavari and its tributaries continue to receive huge inflows of flood waters.
“In Devipatnam, at least 10 boats have been kept ready. At the Singanapalli point in West Godavari district, one boat is made available,” G.V. Raghavara Rao, in-charge port officer, Kakinada, told The Hindu on Friday.
In Devipatnam mandal of Rampachodavaram Agency, the officials had already alerted the residents to move to the relief camps.
“We have launched the evacuation operation in Devipatnam mandal by shifting pregnant women and elderly people to the relief camps. We are persuading the locals to come to the relief camps, instead of preferring to stay in the upland areas,” said ITDA-Rampachodavaram Project Officer C.V. Praveen Adithya.
Alert sounded
Executive Engineer (Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage, Dowleswaram) R. Mohana Rao said the flood monitoring teams and Revenue officials would be required to stay alert till Saturday morning in the wake of the tributaries — Sabari, Kinnerasani and Taliperu — discharging huge flood waters into the Godavari.
“The first flood warning will be issued when the discharge reaches 10 lakh cusecs at the Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage. We are keeping our fingers crossed as the discharge may reach the 10 lakh cusecs by Saturday morning,” Mr. Mohana Rao said. The flood outflow at the barrage was 7.7 lakh cusecs by Friday evening.
If the first flood warning is issued, people from many villages in Devipatnam mandal will have to be shifted to the relief camps.
Meanwhile, East Godavari Collector D. Muralidhar Reddy visited Pochamma Gandi in Devipatnam mandal, where a control room was opened to monitor the evacuation process.
