Thaindian News

Hyderabad, Oct 2 (IANS) The flood situation in Andhra Pradesh turned alarming Friday night as Kurnool town was in danger of being submerged in the backwaters of the Srisailam dam due to unprecedented inflows.
Authorities said they are monitoring the situation closely and that efforts are under way on a war-footing to evacuate people from Kurnool town as the water level in Srisailam dam was rising dangerously.

State Minister for Revenue and Rehabilitation Dhramana Prasada Rao told reporters Friday night that the water level had already crossed the full reservoir level of 885 feet and could go up to 892-893 feet by 11 p.m.

“We are taking all steps to minimise the loss of life by evacuating people from the town by using all resources at our disposal,” the minister said while terming the situation serious.

Thousands of people in Kurnool and Mantralayam towns and dozens of adjoining villages were already trapped in flood waters. Six helicopters that were pressed into service could not take up full-fledged rescue operations due to bad weather.

Chief Minister K. Rosaiah, who held an all-party meeting to review the situation, said he along with other senior ministers and top officials would spend the night in the state secretariat to monitor the situation.

As the huge outflows from Srisailam and Nagarjunsagar dams have threatened to inundate Vijayawada city and several low-lying villages in Krishna district, authorities have begun evacuation of people.

“We are also using police forces to forcibly evacuate people from these areas,” said Prasada Rao.

He said 300 army personnel and jawans of the Disaster Management Response Force had reached the state with boats and necessary material but would be able to join rescue and relief operations only Saturday morning.