Above 170 villages have been affected by the Godavari flood in the four mandals of Chintoor Agency in the Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) district by Monday, July 22.
Most of the villages are inhabited by the Koya and Konda Reddi tribes in the Chintoor, V.R. Puram, Kunavaram and Yetapaka mandals along the banks of the Sabari and the Godavari.
In an official release, Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA-Chintoor) Project Officer Kavuri Chaitanya said that as many as 960 people have been evacuated. The Konda Reddi tribals have been mostly shifted to the relief camps arranged on the hill tops.
ASR Collector A.S. Dinesh Kumar, who inspected the evacuation drive in Chintoor Agency on Monday, directed the officials to intensify the drive to shift the affected tribals along the Sabari to the relief camps.
The second Godavari flood warning was in force at Bhadrachalam by Monday. As a result, the tribes in the entire Godavari Valley face the threat of submergence due to the backwaters of the Polavaram irrigation project. As many as 149 relief camps have been readied for the affected people in the five mandal in the Chintoor Agency.
Collector A.S. Dinesh Kumar has claimed that as many as 226 pregnant women have been admitted to the nearby government hospitals in the Chintoor Agency. The ITDA officials have also arranged 1,132 metric tonnes of rice for distribution among the affected tribals.
Godavari Island villages
The first Godavari flood warning was issued at Sir Arthur Cotton barrage at Dowleswaram in East Godavari district as the inflow touched 10 lakh cusecs at 8 a.m. on Monday. However, barely 1,800 cusecs of the flood water was released into the Godavari Delta canals.
At 10 lakh cusecs of inflow at Dowleswaram, the entire Godavari delta spreading in the districts of Kakinada, East Godavari, West Godavari and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Konaseema would face the threat of inundation of crops and submergence of habitations.
Horticulture crops, primarily bananas, will submerge along the banks of the branches of the Godavari river—Vasista, Vynateya and Gowthami. The paddy fields will bear the burnt.
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema District Collector R. Mahesh Kumar has launched an evacuation drive in the villages in the islands of the Godavari river.
In Rajamahendravaram city, as many as 180 fisherfolks living on the three islands—Kethavani Lanka, Edurlamma Lanka and Bridge Lanka—were evacuated. All the inhabitants of these islands depend on fishing in the Godavari and fishing activity has been suspended due to the floods.
Konaseema
In the Konaseema region, the crops on over 6,800 acres have been inundated. Horticulture and flower nurseries are the worst hit in the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema district.
In West Godavari district Collector Chadalavada Nagarani has said that all the measures have been taken for the evacuation. As many as 24 medical camps have been conducted in the district. At Dowleswaram, the inflow of flood water was above 12.05 lakh cusecs and first flood warning was in the force by Monday.
