Rising Godavari floods 4 villages in Telangana

Just as the Telangana government was coming to grips with the flood-like situation in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, it had to face a fresh challenge from the overflowing Godavari river.

The 130-metre portion of the under construction retaining wall at the Mid Maneru reservoir in Karimnagar district caved in, sending several thousand cusecs of water into four villages on Sunday night, forcing authorities to evacuate the residents. On Monday, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao reviewed the situation at the district headquarters and conducted an aerial survey.

Rao directed the authorities to float fresh tenders to complete the work on the crucial 4 tmcft capacity reservoir, considered the lifeline of Telangana. “I have asked the department to check whether the contractor could be fined for the breach,” Rao said.

Meanwhile, the road link to Medak town was severed with some sections of the Medak-Chegunta-Hyderabad, Medak-Bodmatpally-Narayankhed and Medak-Yellareddy roads being washed away in the flood waters of Kudavelli and Palvancha rivulets. On Sunday, the irrigation department opened the gates at Lower Maneru and released 3.40 lakh cusecs down the stream to relieve Mid Maneru.

The department also released 1, 42, 479 cusecs from Jurala, 77,231 from Srisailam, 1350 from Nagarjuna Sagar, 6,500 from Musi, 44,958 from Pulichintala, 1,73,000 from Nizamsagar, 4,02,000 from Sriramsagar, 4,07,934 from Yellamaplli, 545 from Kadem and 84,000 cusecs from Singur.