NDRF team rescues five cowherds stranded in Munneru stream in Khammam

Five cowherds stranded in the Munneru stream in Khammam’s Chintakani mandal were rescued by NDRF teams on Thursday. Heavy rains across the region caused a sharp rise in stream and river levels, prompting alerts in Khammam and surrounding areas.

Khammam: Swift action by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams saved the lives of five cowherds who were stranded in the Munneru stream at China Mandava village in Chintakani mandal in the district on Thursday.

They were stranded as the water level in the stream rose suddenly while they were tending cattle on the banks of the stream. Additional Collector P Srinivas Reddy along with the police, revenue officials and NDRF team reached the location to launch rescue efforts.

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The stranded cowherds — Gundla Shalaiah, Monditoka Pullaiah, Gundla Venkateshwarlu, D Sreenu and Kukkala Gopi were safely brought ashore in a mechanised boat by the NDRF team.

It might be noted that in view of continuous heavy rains in the past few days in Khammam and upper reaches of the stream, Munneru was flowing in full spate. The officials alerted the residents of Venkatesh Nagar Colony, Srinivas Nagar Colony, Padmavati Nagar Colony, and Bokkalagadda areas in Khammam city as the water level in the stream was increasing.

In Kothagudem, the Kinnerasani dam at Paloncha received heavy inflows, with the water level reaching 403.7 feet. The project officials cautioned residents along the banks of the Kinnersani stream not to venture near it, as water would be released downstream at any time on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the water level in Godavari River at Bhadrachalam was rising slowly, reaching 20.40 feet at 6 pm, with a discharge of 1.87 lakh cusecs. Transportation was cut off to several villages in Khammam and Kothagudem districts as streams were overflowing.