SDRF men rescue flood-hit people, in Ajit Singh Nagar, Vijayawada.
Credit: PTI Photo
Hyderabad: At least 25 colonies and thousands of families in Vijayawada have been living under a sheet of water due to incessant rains that have caused the streams and rivulets in and around the town to overflow. While many areas received rains, Vijayawada and parts of Guntur were the most affected.
Power boats have been deployed from other states for relief and rescue teams to navigate through the waterlogged areas across Vijayawada to evacuate affected people. The control room set up at the Vijayawada collector's camp office, where Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had been camping in a caravan bus since Sunday, has been receiving continuous distress calls from every corner of the city, seeking evacuation.
The incessant rain that had begun since Friday night had left the Budameru canal overflowing, causing more than half of Vijayawada to be inundated. Naidu has been personally monitoring the situation and has visited the waterlogged colonies in a power boat more than two times since Saturday morning.
The Prakasam barrage released over 10 lakh cusecs of water, surpassing the historic 11 lakh cusecs released in 2009. The Vijayawada and Krishna districts witnessed scenes of people in distress, with marooned colonies and villagers rising to their roofs and pleading for aid. Helicopters have also been deployed to evacuate people.
Andhra witnesses historic rainfall
Andhra Pradesh witnessed major devastation due to heavy rainfall for the past three days, recorded at 29 cm to 34 cm in Vijayawada and Guntur, resembling a cloudburst. The overflowing flood water halted traffic flow on national highways, leading to the cancellation of numerous train services. Water also overflowed onto the national highway, severely disrupting movement between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Multiplying the flood devastation, the Budameru stream passing through Vijayawada city submerged several colonies, forcing nearly two lakh people to take shelter on the terrace or first floor of their buildings.
The Budameru stream, which flows through Vijayawada city, began flooding with heavy downpours in catchment areas. The Budameru flooding submerged several areas, including Singh Nagar, Jakkampudi colony, Ajith Singh Nagar, Sharada Centre, Krishna Lanka, Milk Factory, Rajarajeswari Peta, and other low-lying areas, within hours, forcing nearly two lakh people to seek shelter on the terraces of their buildings.
CN Naidu, who had conducted a review of the flood situation from the AP Disaster Management Authority office, decided to be more accessible to flood-affected regions and started governing from the NTR district collectorate in Vijayawada on Sunday by summoning all the officials of the CMO.
On the request of Naidu, the Union government responded immediately and started deploying 10 NDRF teams, 40 power boats, and six helicopters to rescue people from flood-affected regions.
Naidu repeatedly assured people that the state government will come to their rescue. The CM, who personally inspected the situation in flood-affected regions of Vijayawada city till early Monday, again visited the flood-affected areas of Singh Nagar in the morning and personally supervised the distribution of food packets and relief operations. At least three lakh food packets have been distributed across Vijayawada.