Many tribal families have trekked up the hilly areas and erected temporary sheds to protect themselves from rising floods and backwaters in the Godavari.
Flood water has entered several habitations due to incessant rain in the catchment areas.
The Koya and Konda Reddy tribal families have urged the government to make arrangements to shift them to R&R Colonies as the flood water is rising by the day. The severity of flood will be more this year due to complete closure of the coffer dam, they fear.
The residents are vacating the houses and moving to the upland areas. Men and women are clearing bushes on the hills and erecting temporary huts. They are carrying essential items, kerosene and other material along with them.
“Every year, we shift to the hills when the flood level in the Godavari at Bhadrachalam crosses the second warning level (48 feet). But this year, due to the backwaters, many villages are under a sheet of water even before the river witnessed floods,” says Madakam Swathi, a resident.
Road link cut off
Road connectivity to about 19 habitations has been completely cut off in the Polavaram mandal as the backwaters have inundated the Kothur causeway.
As flood water has entered a few hamlets in Velerupadu, Kukunur, Devipatnam, Buttaigudem and other mandals, the residents are using boats to move from one place to another.
“This year, the flood fury will be more due to the backwaters. Normally, we face floods from the mid of July. But this year, thousands of families have started vacating their houses in June itself. The flood is rising when the water level at Bhadrachalam is just 10 feet,” says P. Narsaiah of Polavaram.
Knee-deep water is seen in several hamlets.
Central Water Commission (CWC) officials said that the flood level at Bhadrachalam was 15.5 feet at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. Irrigation officials released 1.2 lakh cuses at the Polavaram project, and the water level at the coffer dam was 28.3 metres, said Polavaram Superintending Engineer K. Narasimha Murthy.
