Flood flow at Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage near Rajamahendravaram in Andhra Pradesh rose to 15.82 lakh cusecs on the morning of Thursday, July 14. As the discharge at upstream Bhadrachalam in neighbouring Telangana crossed 17 lakh cusecs, the inflow at Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage is also expected to surge by evening. Special Chief Secretary (Revenue-Disaster Management) G Sai Prasad said the third warning signal would be issued at the Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage or Dowleswaram Barrage by Thursday evening. Prasad, along with Water Resources Principal Secretary Shashi Bhushan Kumar, has been monitoring the situation at the state disaster control room here.
Sai Prasad said seven teams of NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) and four of SDRF (State Disaster Response Force) have been positioned in Alluri Sitarama Raju, Konaseema, West and East Godavari districts and Eluru district for rescue and relief operations. The relief camps in Alluri Sitarama Raju, Konaseema and Eluru districts were continuing, where thousands of people from the flood-hit habitations have been sheltered. Road communication links to island villages along the course of Godavari remained cut off.
"People living in low-lying areas and other vulnerable places should remain vigilant as the flood is increasing. The official machinery has been put on alert to meet any eventuality," State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) Managing Director B R Ambedkar said in a release. Once the third warning signal is sounded, 524 villages in 42 mandals of 6 districts are likely to be affected, the APSDMA said. Floods are likely to affect 20 mandals in Ambedkar Konaseema, eight mandals in East Godavari, five mandals in Alluri Sitarama Raju, four mandals in West Godavari, three mandals in Eluru and two mandals in Kakinada districts.
On July 12, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said that the Godavari is getting floods earlier than usual this year due to the heavy rains in Maharastra, because of which almost 10 lakh cusecs were being released into the sea through the Dowleswaram Barrage. He directed officials to be on alert as there were indications of an increase in flood levels up to 16 lakh cusecs outflow.