Floods in the Godavari returned with a merciless fury in East Godavari district earlier this year, with several villages in Devipatnam mandal remaining under a sheet of water for over a week in August.
The main reason for the floods was blamed on the lack of completion of work on a cofferdam for the Polavaram irrigation project.
The trail of destruction was on an immense scale: by August 29, 181 habitations were affected, 1.32 lakh people living along the river were evacuated, 37,273 houses were marooned and horticulture crops in over 16,000 hectares were destroyed in Konaseema area alone.
The Godavari Flood Contingency Plan-2020 states: "The flood bank length of the Godavari in East and West Godavari districts is 535 km. The strengthening and winding of flood banks and protection works to the eroded and slipped river margins, which were completed by spending Rs.548 crore granted in 2007, are protecting the two districts from the flood fury. The existing flood bank protects from floods up to the discharge of 35.06 lakh cusecs at Dowleswaram."
In 1953, a total of 14 major breaches to the flood banks were developed, devastating the Central Delta area. Subsequently, the flood banks were improved to suit the maximum flood level of 30.3 lakh cusecs between 1960 and 1962. Nearly 3,000 TMC of floodwater was successfully discharged into the Bay of Bengal during the Godavari floods in August, without any major loss of life.
