Police pickets arranged on Godavari canal bunds, evacuate villagers from flood-prone areas

The police have arranged pickets on the canal bunds and overflowing streams as the water level in Godavari has been on the rise. They have been monitoring the bunds to prevent the breach of canals.

Following the directions of Eluru district Superintendent of Police K. Pratap Shiva Kishore, Polavaram Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Suresh Kumar Reddy, along with other officers, visited the villages in the Polavaram mandal on Monday.

The SP, along with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) 10th Battalion and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams visited the low-lying areas and directed the forces to take up rescue operations in the flood-prone habitations.

Mr. Suresh Kumar and the CIs visited Rudramkota village in Polavaram mandal on Monday, and shifted the people in the low-lying areas as the flood level in Bhadrachalam reached the second warning level at Bhadrachalam.

The police, in association with the Irrigation and the Fisheries Department officials, arranged boats to shift the villagers to safer places. The officials arranged food, drinking water, biscuit packets and milk in the relief camps.

“The NDRF and the SDRF teams, who arrived with inflated boats, ropes, cutters and floodlights will rescue the villagers in emergency and shift them to the relief camps,” Mr. Prapat Shiva Kishore said.

The SP directed the DSPs, CIs and other officers to monitor the bunds round-the-clock and strengthen the weak bunds with sandbags.

Collector K. Vetriselvi and SP K. Pratap Siva Kishore visited the flood-affected areas and rehabilitation centres.  

Ms. Selvi appealed to the people to shift to rehabilitation centres given the floods in the district. They asked them to move to safer places as the flood is likely to surge.  The State government was taking all measures to ensure that there were no casualties or losses. The people were requested to cooperate with the district administration and shift to the rehabilitation centres, she said.

Meanwhile, three among the 28 pregnant women who were shifted to the area hospital and the Primary Health Centre (PHC) by the district administration during the floods delivered babies on Monday.

Sodem Anitha and Madakam Devemma from Chipurugudem village in Kukkunur mandal, and B. Aruna from Pallapugudem were shifted to the nearby area hospital and PHCs from their villages in Velerupadu and Kukkunur mandals on Sunday.