Death toll in AP rises to 130

Hyderabad, Aug 15 (UNI) The death toll in Andhra Pradesh rose to 130 as the flood situation in the Krishna basin continued to be alarming in the wake of heavy discharge from the upper riparian states.

Irrigation officials here said a flood alert was maintained in the districts of Krishna, Guntur and Kurnool, where the Tungabhadra flowed above the danger mark and inundated crops in over 2000 acres.

Reviewing the relief operations through a video conference, Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy asked District Collectors to be fully prepared with reports on damage to apprise the Central team, which would land here on August 17 and tour flood-hit areas for two days.

Disaster Management Assistant Commissioner Priyadarshini told UNI that Visakhapatnam accounted for 29 deaths, followed by East Godavari with 25. Khammam and Vizianagaram registered 13 deaths while West Godavari witnessed 10 and Nizamabad eight. Srikakulam registered seven deaths and Kurnool had six. Other deaths were in Krishna, Warangal, Hyderabad, Guntur, Mahboobnagar, Adilabad and Nalgonda districts.

Directing officials to prepare estimates for strengthening bunds of major rivers, expected to cost over Rs 1000 crore, the Chief Minister said tenders should be finalised and work started from October to prevent floods in future.

Irrigation officials said, in the wake of heavy discharges from Almatti and Narayanpur reservoirs across River Krishna in Karnataka, releases were stepped upto 5.65 lakh cusecs from Jurala and 6.88 lakh cusecs from Srisailam. Releases from Nagarjunasagar were raised to 5.71lakh cusecs while Prakasam Barrage released 5.13 lakh cusecs of water. Thungabadra also released 1.32 lakh cusecs of water.

UNI TEAM SM GKT VD KN2040