Flood alert in Godavari-Krishna basins, 17 NDRF teams deployed

A flood alert has been issued for districts around the Godavari and Krishna basins in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana even as four persons lost their lives in rain-related incidents today.

Telangans's Medak district reported one flood-related death, taking the toll to eight in the state, while three mechanics were killed when a house collapsed due to rains in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district.

In the flood alert issued today, the Water Resources Ministry has advised the respective state and district administrations to take "highest level of precautionary measures...during the next three to seven days".

The districts which may see low to moderate floods are Nizamabad, Adilabad, Karimnagar in Telangana for next three to four days. This may further extend to Khammam district in Telangana and East and West Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh in the next four to six days, the Ministry said.

Beed, Latur and Nanded in Maharashtra; Bidar in Karnataka; Medak, Rangareddy and Nizamabad in Telangana are also likely to get affected. Similarly, the districts around Krishna basin which are likely to get affected are- Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Vijayapura, Bagalkote, Raichur of Karnataka, Mahabubnagar of Telangana and Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh.

Telengana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N Chandra Babu Naidu took stock of the situation in already flood-hit areas of their states.

The Centre has deployed 17 NDRF teams comprising over 550 personnel in the flood-hit regions of Telangana, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The NDRF said they are in touch with local administration and monitoring the situation round the clock.

It was a pleasant day in the national capital with the mercury settling at normal level of 34.3 degrees Celsius. Humidity levels oscillated between 48 and 84 per cent.
In Telangana, three deaths were reported from Medak yesterday while four persons were killed in Medak on Friday.

Four columns of Army had been earlier deployed in Hyderabad and neighbouring Ranga Reddy district. In Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu conducted an aerial survey for the second consecutive day.

Nine persons have so far died in rain-related incidents in the state - six in Guntur and three in Visakhapatnam. Train services on Guntur-Secunderabad section, remained disrupted for last four days. The tracks which were washed away at some places are likely to be restored by tomorrow.

Standing crops, mostly paddy, chilli and cotton suffered extensive damage in over 41,000 hectares of Guntur alone. "The state government will give input subsidy to farmers to raise alternative crops," he said.

Rainfall, accompanied with gusty surface winds, is likely to lash many places in Odisha due to a low pressure area in the neighbourhood with MeT office asking fishermen to be cautious while venturing into the sea.

Yesterday's well marked low pressure area now lies as a low pressure area over Vidarbha and adjoining Telengana and South Chattisgarh, the meteorological centre here said. The associated upper air cyclonic circulation extends upto 7.6 km above mean sea level.

Under its impact, rain or thunder shower is likely to occur at many places over Odisha during next 24 hours. Districts in sub-Himalayan West Bengal received heavy precipitation while a few places in the southern parts of the state got moderate rainfall as the Met department forecast more heavy downpour in the north. Cooch Behar received 59.2 mm rainfall, the state's highest in 24 hours from last morning, the Met department said.