Unprecedented rains lash erstwhile Khammam, life turns upside down

Tanks and streams overflowed with incidents of tanks breaching in some places. Munneru stream in Khammam city was in spate and flood level reached 36 feet.

Khammam: Unprecedented widespread rainfall during the past couple of days has left a trail of destruction causing panic among the public in Khammam and Kothagudem districts.

Tanks and streams overflowed with incidents of tanks breaching in some places. Munneru stream in Khammam city was in spate and flood level reached 36 feet. It was after 1984 the stream received such inflows. As a result Bokkalagadda, Moti Nagar, Damsalapuram, Danavaigudem, Prakash Nagar and Kalvoddu areas were inundated with floodwaters reaching rooftops of the houses.

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Similarly, rainwater inundated residential areas like Kaviraju Nagar, Chaitanya Nagar, Cheruvu Bazar and others areas. In all, around 15,000 households were said to be impacted by the flooding. The Palair mini-hydel project canal suffered a breach.

Some residents were trapped at Prakash Nagar, Teerthala and Valyatanda due to the flood of Munneru stream. Nine persons who were trapped on Munneru bridge at Prakash Nagar have not been rescued until evening hours and their family members with help of a drone provided life jackets, water and food to them.

As Akeru stream in Khammam rural mandal overflowed, five persons, Madhu, Gopi, Bunny, Veerababu and another one who went to see the rising of the stream were washed away. They lost contact with the family members. A family at Bokkalagadda was stuck in Munneru floods.

Due to heavy floods, the wall of a house collapsed and three persons were washed away at Nayakangudem of Kusumanchi mandal in Palair Assembly constituency. A youth Sharif was saved while his father Yakub and mother Saida could not be traced out.

BRS working president KT Rama Rao complained that even as there were three ministers in the district, the public affected by floods lacked basic assistance. Several residents of the city also complained that the ministers remained aloof and left the flood affected to their fate.

A large number of residents at Kalvoddu area staged a protest against the negligent attitude of the ministers and officials in carrying out relief measures. The officials said that they set up 39 relief centres and accommodated 7090 persons in 21 mandals in the district.

In Kothagudem district an elderly man Kalluri Neelamaiah of Venkatapuram in Aswapuram mandal was found dead after he was washed away by Lothuvagu floods. An elderly woman, Tati Ademma who was also washed away was not found yet. 200 goats and eight buffaloes were also washed away in the floods.

Manugur town witnessed floods like never before in its 30-year history as Kattavagu and Kodipunjulavagu inundated Sundaraiah Nagar, Vinayaka Nagar, Balaji Nagar, Gandhinagar, Kalimata area, Adarshannagar, and Fish Market Area. In Urladosapadu of Krishna Sagar in Burgampadu Mandal about 30 cattle were washed away in the floods.