Rs 600cr damage in floods in Andhra districts

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu conducted aerial survey of flood-affected east and west Godavari districts on Wednesday and estimated loss of Rs 600 crore.

The Chief Minister then held a review meeting with officials at the Madhuravada airport in Rajamahendravaram.

Naidu said that Godavari districts have faced a major flood like situation after this year after 1996 and 2006. He said thousands of hectares of land were submerged under floodwater mostly from Errakaluva river which forms the boundary between Khammam district of Telangana and West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh state. He announced a compensation of Rs 25,000 per hectare of crop damaged in floods.

Naidu who has also reviewed the progress of construction of Polavaram project told media that the works are mostly halted due to severe flooding of Godavari River. He also said that the central government still has to reimburse Rs 2600 crore spent by the state government on the project. “We have no objection if the Centre takes over the project,” Naidu said.

All the roads leading to project and the spillway channel have been inundated. The tribal hamlets in the vicinity are still submerged under water. District authorities have vacated villagers from Repakagommu, Totakuragommu, Tirumalapuram, Naravaram and Chigurumamidi villages and the residents were given 20 kilograms of rice per family.

The Impact

In east Godavari district at least 44 Lanka villages (island) are still under knee-deep water with hundreds of people cut off from the mainland waiting for food and drinking water. However, none of the villagers is wishing to leave their homes to take shelter at the government camps in Kakinada and Rajamahendravaram. Similar conditions are prevailing in the seven blocks that were added to the state from Telangana to facilitate completion of Polavaram project. Power supply to over 70 villages snapped and the people are surviving in darkness.

In West Godavari district vehicular transport between Tadepalli Gudem and Nidavolu came to a grinding halt with Yerrakaluva water washing away a stretch of the road and a causeway. Thousands of acres of standing crops are under knee-deep water.