WARANGAL: Heavy rains continuing over the past two days have severely affected the agency areas of Mulugu and Jayashankar Bhupalpally districts in the erstwhile Warangal region, leading to rising river levels, disrupted road connectivity and intensified rescue operations.
Godavari River is continuing to swell due to incessant rainfall in the upper catchment areas. Its level at Ramannagudem in Mulugu district is 70.26 metres at 5 p.m. on Thursday. Although the level is 3.06 metres below the first warning mark, officials said inflows have been steadily increasing and they are constantly watching the situation.
Search operations are continuing for the second day for the tourist who got swept away in the flooded Jampannavagu near Medaram on Wednesday. Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), assisted by police personnel, are continuing to intensively search the area using boats and specialised safety equipment despite strong currents.
Authorities have advised residents of low-lying areas to remain vigilant and avoid venturing into rivers or streams, warning that water levels in the Godavari and its tributaries are expected to rise further.
Heavy rainfall in the Godavari and Indravati river basins due to the low-pressure system are bringing inflows into the Sammakka Sagar Barrage. On Thursday, inflows that stood at 3.63 lakh cusecs at 9 a.m. increased to 7.60 lakh cusecs by 5 p.m. In view of the rising inflows, officials have sounded the first flood warning around 7 p.m.
Fishermen have been directed not to enter the river. Residents have been asked not to move their livestock across flooded stretches.
Flood-related damage has disrupted transportation. Vehicular movement on National Highway 163, which connects Telangana and Chhattisgarh, remains suspended after the diversion road near the under-repair Isukavagu Bridge between Cheekupalli and Peddagollagudem villages in Wazeedu mandal got washed away.
Further downstream, flood inflows into the Medigadda (Lakshmi) Barrage in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district have increased significantly. Heavy rains and rising water levels in the Pranahita and Godavari rivers have reached the Pushkar Ghat at the Triveni Sangamam in Kaleshwaram.
Officials said the Medigadda Barrage, with a storage capacity of 16.17 TMC, is receiving an inflow of 2.12 lakh cusecs. To regulate floodwaters, all the 85 gates of the barrage have been opened, releasing the water downstream.
Officials said the Godavari level continues to remain below the danger mark. But continued rainfall upstream will lead to a further rise in the level of water over the next 24 hours.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
