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Central team to visit flood-hit areas in A.P.

Special Correspondent

Bad weather forces YSR to drop plans to fly by a chopper

HYDERABAD: Life for an estimated 10 lakh people in Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam districts turned out to be an ordeal as flood water stagnated in a large number of villages and towns although there was a slight let-up in the rains on the sixth day on Thursday.

Hundreds of families are spending days at a stretch amid muddy waters without potable water and power supply, and even food in some cases. The death toll mounted to 28, including 12 in Prakasam district. Inclement weather forced Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy to drop his plans to fly by a chopper to the flood-hit areas. Instead, he travelled by train to Chirala and from there to the interior areas by road. Dr. Reddy will fly to Delhi on Friday to submit a memorandum to the Prime Minister on the damage. He stated during his tour of Guntur and Krishna districts that the Government would draw up a plan costing upwards of Rs. 4,000 crores to modernise the drainage system in the Krishna delta which was not designed to discharge such large quantity of flood water.

A preliminary assessment of the damage indicated that crops over an extent of 12 lakh acres was inundated, mostly paddy in Gudiwada, Tenali and Narsapur areas. In all, 43,711 houses were destroyed. The damage to crops and properties is more extensive than during the floods on three earlier occasions. Disaster Management Commissioner Preeti Sudan said Central team was likely to visit the areas shortly as the Chief Secretary had already addressed a letter to the Union Home Ministry. She estimated the loss on all counts at Rs. 762 crore based on the initial reports and said the figure might go up.

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