A 21-year-old student in Andhra Pradesh's Vizianagaram district had to swim cross a river in the absence of any conveyance to appear in an examination. Taddi Kalavathi, with the help of her brother and another family member, crossed the swollen river Champavathi to appear for an exam on Friday, September 9. A video of the woman wading through neck-deep water with the help of the duo has gone viral on social media. The incident occurred in Gajapathinagaram mandal of Vizianagaram district.
Kalavathi, a resident of Marrivalasa village, had to take an examination in Visakhapatnam. The river was in spate due to heavy rains upstream, cutting off the village. There were no boats available to take her to the other side of the river. With no other option left, the girl entered the river. As she did not know how to swim, her brother and another family member carried her on their shoulders and helped her cross the river. Her brother Adi Shankar told the media that residents of their village have faced severe connectivity issues on many occasions and emergency situations in the past.
In Andhra Pradesh, the Krishna and Penna rivers continued their full flow as rains have not stopped, keeping the official machinery on its toes. The flood touched the 4.43-lakh cusecs mark at Prakasam Barrage on river Krishna at Vijayawada on Saturday afternoon, but remained steady, with the first warning signal in place. The Somasila reservoir on river Penna in Nellore district, too, received bountiful water, filling it up to 91.40% of full reservoir level. While the inflow was recorded at 44,493 cusecs, the outflow was 50,745, according to Water Resources Information Management System data.
A 21yr old woman was crossed flowing #ChampavathiRiver in Gajapathinagaram mandal of #Vizianagaram dist with the help of her two brothers in neck deep water by risking their lives to attend an examination in Visakhapatnam. #AndhraPradesh #Risks #LifeinRisk pic.twitter.com/Rsi68TVuaa
— Surya Reddy (@jsuryareddy) September 9, 2022
The discharge from Gandikota reservoir in YSR Kadapa district crossed 35,000 cusecs and from Mylavaram 37,556 cusecs. According to the State Disaster Management Authority, the flood flow was less at Srisailam reservoir on river Krishna with reduced inflows from upstream. With a discharge of 4.50 lakh cusecs at Srisailam, the flow into the downstream Nagarjuna Sagar increased to 3.93 lakh cusecs by the evening. Further down, the Dr KL Rao Sagar Pulichintala reservoir, too, received 3.92 lakh cusecs of water but the outflow has been regulated to 3.41 lakh cusecs as a flood cushion of 9.77 thousand million cubic feet remained.
With PTI and IANS inputs