Rescue, relief operations continue in flood-hit Vijayawada

Vijayawada, Sep 3 (IANS) Rescue and relief operations in flood-hit Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh continued on Tuesday while the floods at Prakasam Barrage were gradually receding, providing some relief to people, officials said.Five helicopters from the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Navy and 228 boats were used for the rescue and relief operations in Vijayawada and other flood-hit areas of NTR district, Krishna and Bapatla districts.

As many as 26 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and 21 teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) were carrying out the operations in the flood-hit areas.

According to officials of the Disaster Management Department, NDRF teams airlifted 240 persons and dropped 40 tonnes of food items.The helicopters of the IAF and Navy were used to airlift 22 people stranded in flood-affected areas and drop 7,070 kg of food items.

Officials said 22 teams each of NDRF and SDRF were deployed in Vijayawada and other parts of NTR, which is the worst affected district.

Heavy rains and floods since Saturday have claimed 17 lives while two persons were missing. NTR district accounted for nine deaths while seven deaths were reported from the Guntur district and one died in the Palnadu district.

The floods affected 4.15 lakh people. Over 43,000 people were shifted to 163 relief camps in NTR, Guntur, Krishna, Eluru, Palnadu, Bapatla and Prakasam districts.

A total of 228 boats (174 motorised and 54 non-motorised) were arranged to evacuate people from inundated areas. As many as 315 active swimmers were engaged along with boats for rescue operations.

Several residential areas in Vijayawada were inundated after Budameru rivulet breached at six places. Ajithsingh Nagar and surrounding areas in the city remained inundated on Tuesday.

In some relief for the people of Vijayawada, flood flow at Prakasam Barrage across Krishna River receded. The flood discharge into the sea through 70 gates of the barrage came down to 9.40 lakh cusecs on Tuesday morning. It had reached 11.50 lakh cusecs on Monday, triggering fears of flood in Lanka villages downstream.The second warning signal remained in force at Prakasam Barrage with the water level standing at 20 feet. Five wooden boats remained stuck in Gate Number 69. This has damaged the pillar of the gate. The officials of the irrigation department are likely to take up repair once the floods recede.