Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday said several parts of Vijayawada city have been flooded due to unprecedented rainfall, swollen rivulets and flood water inflows, disrupting normal life of over 2.7 lakh people.
The Chief Minister said Budameru, a rivulet on the outskirts of the city suffered breaches and overflowed at many places, inundating the ground floors of thousands of residential buildings in Ajit Singh Nagar, Krishnalanka, Bhupesh Nagar, Ibrahimpatnam and others.
"Due to Budameru breaches, floodwaters are coming into Vijayawada. As a result, all of this place has been submerged. It is very sad," Naidu said, addressing a press conference at NTR district collectorate, and added that floodwaters are expected to rise in the coming hours.
According to the CM, heavy rainfall in the catchment areas of neighbouring Telangana are also entering into Budameru to add to the woes.
Stating that there is no other option but to resolutely face this exigency, Naidu said the unexpected torrential rain in Guntur and Vijayawada, estimated to be 35 cm (rainfall), and floodwater inflows from Nagarjunasagar, Srisailam, Pulichintala and other projects worsened the situation.
Highlighting that 16 wards were affected in Ajit Singh Nagar, Naidu said over 2.76 lakh people live in these areas, fearing that large damage could occur.
Naidu said 9.7 lakh cusecs of flood water was discharged by 9 pm from Prakasam Barrage on Sunday, recalling that flooding of this magnitude last happened in 1998. The CM said the discharge could rise further.
Back in 1998, he said 9.24 lakhs cusecs of flood water was released from Prakasam Barrage, a rise of 50,000 cusecs now.
Meanwhile, director general of police Ch Dwaraka Tirumala Rao said Vijayawada is in the grip of floods and some areas were badly inundated.
"Main problem now is that some areas in Vijayawada city itself are badly inundated. Quite a few residents are stranded. Water has come to a very high level, especially in Ajit Singh Nagar, Jakkampudi Colony and others," Rao told PTI.
The DGP said a similar situation prevails in Krishnalanka area and food is being distributed to the affected people.
Though officials are striving to evacuate as many people as possible, the top police officer said it is becoming difficult as there is a paucity of boats.
"Boats are not sufficient. We are getting more boats and also some helicopters tomorrow (Monday) morning. We are getting NDRF teams," he said.
Naidu spoke to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and updated him over the deluge and requested for the dispatch of power boats to the southern state for rescue operations.
Further, he asked for six NDRF teams for Andhra Pradesh from other states while the Union home ministry informed Naidu that boats and NDRF teams would reach Vijayawada before Monday morning.
According to an official press release, home secretary Govind Mohan assured Naidu that 40 power boats and six helicopters would be sent to the southern state on Monday.
Meanwhile, Subbaraju, a resident from Ajit Singh Nagar police station area said water level has reached up to 10 ft and all ground floors and cellars were submerged.
"We haven't had power since 8 am today. Prakash Nagar, Payakapuram, Rajarajeshwari Peta, Singh Nagar Dabba Kottula centre, Nandamuri Nagar and Pipula Road are all submerged," Subbaraju told PTI.
Observing that residents are fearing further rise in water level, he said people are avoiding venturing outside while the floodwaters are infested with snakes.
Moreover, he said residents on the ground floor were seeking refuge in the upper floors of buildings while mobile phones of several people stopped working due to power-related issues.
An Ajit Singh Nagar resident complained that authorities issued no warning over the floods while another said she saw food packets being distributed.
Further, vehicle movement and traffic situation at Kanchikacherla near Vijayawada is in haywire due to the rain and flood-induced disruption.
