Chandrababu terms Andhra floods ‘biggest disaster’; toll rises to 17

Chief Minister says he will request the Central government to declare the flood in the State as a national calamity

Amaravati: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has said the recent torrential rain and subsequent floods in Andhra Pradesh, particularly in Vijayawada, is the “biggest disaster” he has witnessed in the State in his political career.

Naidu on Monday also said he will request the Central government to declare the flood in the State as a national calamity. At least 17 people have been killed in rain-related incidents and the floods.

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“In my career, this is the biggest disaster…We had some events like Hudhud hurricane and Titli cyclone but compared to these, here the human suffering and property loss is the biggest,” Naidu told a press conference at the NTR district collectorate late Monday.

The collectorate in the district, one of the worst hit by the incessant rain in the state and floods, has been turned into a temporary secretariat by the Chief Minister. Naidu said all reports related to the calamity will be sent to the Centre and he will request it to liberally give funds to the state to recover from the losses.

He said the Prakasam Barrage in Vijayawada witnessed its highest floodwater level and recorded a discharge of 11.43 lakh cusecs. The barrage was designed to withstand a maximum of 11.9 lakh cusecs of floodwater, Naidu added. “Because of 11.43 lakh cusecs of floodwater, water crossed the Bhavanipuram road and submerged the entire Swathi theatre area (in Vijayawada), and then flowed into the Vambay colony,” he said.

He said some places such as Ajit Singh Nagar are still submerged but floodwater is slowly receding. The floodwater has receded by 1.5 feet in Ajit Singh Nagar and also started decreasing in Bhavanipuram, according to Naidu.

Naidu said floodwater is slowly receding in the Krishna river and Budamer, and added that the situation is expected to improve in the next two days. Though the depression crossed the Andhra Pradesh coast near Kalingapatnam in the state’s northern part, he said, the highest amount of rainfall occurred in NTR and Guntur districts.

Rainfall in Telangana’s Nalgonda and Khammam districts aggravated the deluge in downstream Vijayawada area via Budameru and other rivulets, Naidu said. He expressed sadness that despite the best efforts of the government, some flood victims located in last mile areas could not be supplied food.

Citing the struggle by victims to get food packets at the beginning of the distribution chain itself, the chief minister said he had witnessed several harrowing scenes on Monday. These included a man leaving his wife behind to get food for his one-year-old child and an elderly couple going through extreme difficulties, Naidu said.

“So many pathetic stories today. I went there in the evening (Monday) also. I went about six to seven times. I am trying in all possible ways. My resolve is to provide food to the last mile at any cost,” he said. Naidu said 32 senior IAS officers have been appointed for 32 divisions and 179 officials assigned to an equal number of villages and ward secretariats in flood-affected areas to oversee relief operations.

He said all modes of transportation such as boats, tractors and vans will be used for food distribution from Tuesday onwards. Naidu observed that inaccessible places will be served by six helicopters for dropping food packets.

He highlighted that eight to nine drones were used to deliver food packets to 10,000 people on Monday and assured that up to 35 more drones would be deployed on Tuesday. Naidu said 3.5 lakh people were provided food on Monday by procuring it from all districts. He assured that food will reach one lakh more people.

The Chief Minister said he is also eliciting information from flood victims through surveys for serving them better. Referring to three large boats hitting the Prakasam Barrage on Monday, Naidu said it was fortunate that they did not dash at critical places, otherwise it could have been “dangerous”. He claimed that there could be a conspiracy behind their drifting towards the barrage.