Godavari in spate at Bhadrachalam, crossed second warning level

River Godavari crossed the second warning level at Bhadrachalam in Kothagudem district on Tuesday.

Kothagudem: River Godavari was in spate for the fourth time in this season and the water level at Bhadrachalam pushkar ghat in the district crossed the second warning level of 48 feet on Tuesday.

Water level in the river at 6 am was 49.80 feet and it reached 51.50 feet with a discharge of 13.43 lakh cusecs at 5 pm following huge inflows into the river from upstream projects and its tributaries. The water level was expected to rise further and might reach the 55 feet mark, officials said.

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With the increase in the water level, flood waters inundated many villages on the banks of the river cutting off transportation to the villages. Flood water was flowing over a bridge at Turubaka village in Dummugudem mandal.

Vehicular traffic has been affected on a national highway between Bhadrachalam and Vekatapuram, Bairagulapadu to Sunnam Batti villages as the flood waters inundated the roads connecting the villages. Flood waters entered into many villages in Burgampad mandal.

Transportation on Bhadrachalam to Raipur in Chhattisgarh State was affected. Many villages in Alluri Sitarama Raju district in Andhra Pradesh and agriculture fields on the banks of the river were inundated.

Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar and district Collector Anudeep Durishetty directed the district and mandal level officials to be alert and take measures to avoid loss of life and property. Officials were told to be prepared to move the people in flood affected villages to relief centres.