Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh geared up for more floods as a swollen Krishna river on Monday inundated parts of Vijayawada city and threatened to swamp 200 villages in Krishna and Guntur districts, while the overall flood situation continued to be grim in the rest of the state.
The authorities are constantly monitoring the level at the Prakasam barrage across the Krishna river and they said if Monday night passed without much damage to the 200 villages downstream in the two districts the threat would be averted.
Officials are describing it as the worst floods in Krishna river in 100 years.
The focus of the flood threat has now shifted to the coastal areas. Kurnool and Mahbubnagar districts, which bore the brunt of the flood fury during the last four days, are struggling to come back to normalcy.
Though the officials have put the death toll at 49, it could go up as dozens of people are still reported missing.
The inflows in the Prakasam barrage have crossed a record million cusecs, inundating parts of Vijayawada, one of the state's biggest cities with 1.2 million people, located on the banks of the river.
Dozens of villages downstream have submerged while thousands of people are being evacuated. More than 200,000 people have been evacuated in Krishna and Guntur districts.
The weakening embankments at a few points along the river have raised the spectre of inundation of vast areas and authorities have mobilised 300,000 sand bags to strengthen the embankments.
The water level at the barrage, the last irrigation project across Krishna river before it falls in the Bay of Bengal, stands at 21.5 feet.
Though authorities said there was no threat to the barrage, the weakening embankments at a few points was worrying.
The barrage has never faced such massive inflows in its history.
"There is three to four feet water in some areas in Vijayawada city and this may go up to six to seven feet later. We have already moved out of the area near the river," Suresh Kumar, a resident, said.
Krishna District Collector Piyush Kumar said army, navy and the National Disaster Response Force were ready with 100 boats and six helicopters to rescue people in the district.
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Vehicular traffic on the Hyderabad-Vijayawada highway came to a standstill as the highway was under water at several points.
However, receding water levels at Srisailam dam and in the tributaries of Krishna have provided some respite to Kurnool and Mahbubnagar, where 1.1 million people have been affected. People are returning to their homes in Kurnool town and other affected areas to only find that they have lost everything.
Pathetic scenes were witnessed in the affected areas as men and women were trying to salvage whatever they could from the slush in their damaged houses. Debris, garbage and carcasses of cattle washed away by floods were seen scattered all over. Sanitation workers were having a tough time to take up cleaning work.
Ministers and officials who visited the affected areas had to face the ire of the people who protested the tardy relief work. Some people alleged that cleaning work was being taken up only in a few areas.
According to official figures, the floods have so far claimed 49 lives in five districts. Kurnool district accounted for 26 deaths while 17 people died in Mahbubnagar. The remaining deaths were reported from the districts of Krishna (three), Nalgonda (two) and Guntur (one).
About 500 villages were inundated by the floods that impacted over 1.8 million people in five districts. About 70,000 houses were damaged in five districts while over 400,000 people were rendered homeless.
The state government has doubled the compensation for the families of the victims to Rs.200,000.
Revenue and Relief Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao said the state government had done well to keep the loss of lives to the minimum. "In neighbouring Karnataka over 200 people were killed in heavy rains and floods while despite facing worst-ever floods the death toll in our state is under 50," he said.
"Experts have told us that such calamity occurs once in 1,000 years."
The state has estimated the loss due to the floods at Rs.12,225 crore and sought immediate assistance of Rs.6,000 crore from the centre.
United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who on Monday conducted an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas, assured all possible assistance from the centre.
The state government urged the centre to declare the floods a national calamity. This will enable the state to avail assistance under the National Calamity Contingency Fund.
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