Taliperu, Kinnerasani and various other rivers and forest streams across Bhadradri Kothagudem district swelled with heavy rains lashing the catchment areas of the rivers and streams in the past 24 hours.
A 25-year-old youth identified as P. Shankar of Samithisingaram village in Manuguru mandal is feared drowned in Kodipunjulavagu, which is in spate following overnight rains. He was washed away in the swirling waters of the stream while trying to catch fish along with some other villagers on Friday afternoon, sources said.
Manuguru police rushed to the spot and launched a search operation to trace him. However, he could not be traced till late in the evening.
Persistent rains in the vast swatches of the forests spanning the inter-State border with Chhattisgarh led to heavy inflows from the upstream areas into the Taliperu reservoir in Charla mandal.
Water level in the Taliperu reservoir, a lifeline of farmers in the tribal heartland of Bhadrachalam Agency, reached 70 metres as against its full reservoir level of 74 metres. As many as 20 crest gates of the reservoir were lifted and 27,560 cusecs of surplus water was let off into the Godavari in the downstream on Friday evening, sources added.
Kinnerasani reservoir in Paloncha mandal received significant inflows from the catchment areas owing to incessant rains on Friday. Water level in the reservoir increased to 404 feet as against its FRL of 407 feet by late in the evening.
Streams in spate
Several streams, including Murreduvagu and Lothuvagu, in various parts of the district were in spate due to incessant spell of rains. This led to disruption of vehicular movement in far flung areas in the tribal pockets.
The overnight heavy rains in most parts of the coal belt region severely affected coal production in JVR Opencast Project (OCP) in Sattupalli, the Gowthamkhani OCP in Kothagudem area, Kistaram OCP in Tekulapally mandal and various other OCPs elsewhere in the coal belt region.
The overburden removal in the OCPs suffered a major disruption with the operation of heavy machinery deployed in the OCPs coming to a virtual halt due to slushy conditions in the opencast projects, sources said.
In Khammam district, the water level in the Munneru rose considerably on Friday following heavy rains in the upper reaches of the river.
This has prompted the Revenue and Police authorities to step up vigil in the areas along the course of Munneru, Akeru, Buggeru and other rivers and streams in the district as a safety precaution.
