The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Death toll in floods mounts to 31

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Thursday, Sep 21, 2006
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Death toll in floods mounts to 31

Special Correspondent

Swollen rivers inundate more villages in several districts; YSR reviews situation

STRANDED AND NOWHERE TO GO: Villagers make their way through floodwaters on a highway near Karimnagar on Wednesday even as vehicles wait for the water to recede. - Photo: AFP

HYDERABAD: The death toll in the floods mounted to 31 as the swollen rivers and streams flowed into more villages and towns in several districts although there was a let up in rainfall on Wednesday.

Eight more persons died--five in Warangal, two in Khammam and one in Adilabad. Forty-six goats perished when a thunderbolt struck the flock at Tippalkoti in Adilabad district. Crops in an estimated six-lakh acres lay under a sheet of water in 11 districts.

Life disrupted

Normal life was thrown out of gear in Vijayawada in the morning although there was a respite in the afternoon as the low-pressure area weakened. Several localities in the city were under knee-deep water.

Krishna district was battered by flash floods in Budameru, Munneru, Wyra, Nallavagu and Moghalcheruvu.

Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy reviewed the situation with the Collectors while Ministers -- Dharmana Prasada Rao and M. Satyanarayana Rao -- besides TRS leaders visited Karimnagar town, vying with each other to console affected families.

Crest gate washed away

The Godavari rose to the danger level of 53 ft at Bhadrachalam following massive inflow of 11.5 lakh cusecs from tributaries like Sabari.

A crest gate of Kadam dam was washed away. M. K. Rahaman, Engineer-in-Chief, Major Irrigation, said the inflows would go up by another lakh cusecs by Thursday before the water abated.

The Government alerted all the low-lying areas abutting the rivers and positioned launches for rescue operations.

Inflows into the Krishna were about one lakh cusecs, enabling full-scale power generation by Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar projects.

M. Satyakumar, director, State Met Office, said North Telangana and North Coastal Andhra were in for heavy rain due to the trough associated with the weakened first low-pressure area.

In Visakhapatnam district, water gushed out from Meghadrigedda reservoir after two gates were lifted posing a threat to the Visakhapatnam airport again. In West Godavari, Yerrakalava and Kovvadakalva were in spate, inundating vast paddy areas.

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