Blitz Bureau
VIJAYAWADA: 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. 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.
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 7 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.
