Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday directed the collectors of five districts to be vigilant of the rising flood levels in the Godavari river as water level is expected to rise to 53.81 ft from the current 49.6 ft at Bhadrachalam in Telangana.
In the wake of incessant rains, the Chief Minister reviewed the flood situation through video conference, noting that the inflow and outflow of flood waters at Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage in Dowleswaram could go up to 16 lakh cusecs from 13 lakh cusecs.
"Because it doesn't go above 17 lakh cusecs, the flood threat would be between second and third warning levels as against the 26 lakh cusecs of flood waters we faced last year," said Reddy in an official release.
He directed officials to extend relief and rehabilitation services with a humane touch, disregarding the expenditure involved.
Advising officials to be mindful of the flood threat, the Chief Minister instructed them to evacuate people in advance, including extending excellent facilities in the relief camps and also handing out financial aid of up to Rs 2,000 to the evacuees while being sent back home.
In case of people affected from pucca (solid structures) houses, Reddy told officials to disburse Rs 10,000 to each person as compensation to repair their houses irrespective of the extent of damage.
Further, he directed officials to distribute 25 kg rice and 1 kg each of potatoes, red gram, onions and palm oil for free.
Likewise, he directed officials to be ready with stocks of drinking water packets and daily essentials while also ensuring no interruption to drinking water supply.
Similar to the past four years, the Chief Minister instructed officials to set up control rooms from the village level to the district level as well as engaging the services of the secretariat staff and volunteers.
Besides, he tasked officials to stock up sufficient quantities of medicines at the village clinics and primary health centres (PHC), especially to treat snake bite victims, and also arrange for enough generators to supply power in flood-affected and low-lying areas.
As soon as the floods recede, Reddy directed collectors to undertake crop loss enumeration with transparency.
-With PTI Input
