Andhra floods affect 10 lakh people, damaged crops over 5 lakh acres

Vijayawada, Sep 9 : Heavy rains and floods that battered parts of south coastal Andhra Pradesh last week affected over 10 lakh people, destroyed agriculture crops of over 5 lakh acres, and damaged 4,222 km long roads besides claiming 45 human lives.

The unprecedented rains and floods left a trail of destruction in Vijayawada city and other parts of the NTR district and surrounding districts of Krishna, Guntur, Bapatla, and Palnadu.

Vijayawada, one of the major cities in the state, bore the brunt of flood water from Budameru Rivulet inundating several residential areas.

Eight to 10 feet of water submerged houses, shops, business establishments and offices. The floods due to six breaches in Budameru wreaked havoc in 32 wards and five villages in Vijayawada.

More than seven lakh people of 2.32 lakh families were affected. Many of them lost all their household belongings.

Hundreds of cars in showrooms, service centres and godowns and those parked on roads and in houses were submerged. Officials say there is no sector, which has not been affected by the deluge.

The unprecedented rainfall began on August 31 and continued for two days. Five affected districts received excess rainfall ranging from 607 per cent to 1,010 per cent.

The flood of 11.43 lakh cusecs on September 2 at Prakasam Barrage across Krishna River in Vijayawada was the highest since the construction of the barrage in 1957. The floods inundated upstream Ibrahimpatnam and Kanchikacherla and downstream Lanka villages in Krishna and Bapatla districts.

The state government, which has sent an interim report to the Centre on the damages caused by heavy rains and floods, has sought Rs 6,880 crore for temporary and permanent rehabilitation and restoration works.

The proposed works include a review of flood flow in Krishna River, strengthening of embankment and construction of another anicut upstream of Prakasam Barrage.

The heavy rains and floods have so far claimed 45 lives while one person is still missing. NTR district alone accounted for 35 deaths. Almost all the deaths in this district were reported from Vijayawada.

The death toll has increased during the last 3-4 days as rescue workers found bodies in areas where flood water started receding.

Seven deaths were reported from the Guntur district. Two persons died in the Eluru district and one in Palnadu.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who has been camping in Vijayawada for the last seven days to oversee relief and rehabilitation, has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of those killed in heavy rains and floods.

The rains and floods damaged agriculture crops over 5.02 lakh acres, affecting about 2.37 lakh farmers.

According to the status report of the state government on the losses, 473 animals (116 big and 357 small) were killed. As many as 71,639 poultry birds were also killed.

A total of 377 boats were fully damaged/lost while 226 boats were partially damaged. According to officials 1,939 fishing nets were fully damaged while 70 nets were partially damaged.

The natural calamity damaged roads to a total length of 4,222 km. These include 3,869 km of roads under the Roads and Buildings Department, 353 km of Panchayat Raj roads and 558 km of municipal roads.

As per the report sent by the state government to the Centre, Rs 2,164 crore is required for the Roads and Buildings department, Rs 1,568 crore for water resources and Rs 1,160 crore for municipal administration.

The state also sought Rs 301 crore and Rs 39.95 crore for input subsidies for agriculture and horticulture farmers respectively.

A total of 143 minor irrigation tanks, eight medium and 254 major irrigation tanks were damaged.

Under a massive relief measure, the government launched the distribution of ration kits among affected families in seven districts. It mobilised 1,200 vehicles to distribute these kits through the Public Distribution System.

Each ration contains 25 kg rice, 1 kg Red Gram dal, 1 litre palm oil, 2 kg onions, 2 kg potatoes, and 1 kg sugar to each family. Families of weavers and fishermen are being given 50 kg of rice.

The officials have identified 2,77,028 families in seven districts. About half of them have received the ration kits.

As inundated areas were swarmed with mud and debris, a massive cleaning-up operation was undertaken by municipal authorities.

The government is undertaking door-to-door surveys in Vijayawada and other affected areas to enumerate the losses caused by heavy rains and floods.

As the affected families lost almost all household items in the deluge, the Chief Minister has asked officials to engage technicians and mechanics who can repair damaged vehicles and electronic devices. The officials were asked to bring technicians and mechanics from other places by paying an honorarium.