Central team begins visit of flood-hit districts in Andhra; restoration work apace in Vijayawada

Vijayawada: An inter-ministerial team from the Central government on Thursday began its visit of the flood-affected districts in Andhra Pradesh.

The team headed by Sanjeev Kumar Jindal visited Vijayawada, the worst affected place, to estimate the losses and destruction, said an official press release.

The Central team visited the State Emergency Operations Centre in the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) office in Tadepalli, where officials explained about the torrential rains and floods.

Later, the officials also visited Prakasam Barrage, which was recently hit by three large drifting boats, damaging a concrete beam.

As the flood waters began to recede at many places here, personnel of the Vijayawada civic body are busily engaged in sanitation work and also restoring water supply, an official said on Thursday.

However, Vijayawada Municipal Commissioner HM Dhyanachandra said people must refrain from drinking the restored municipal tap water at the moment as it was not in a potable.

"Today, we are focusing on municipal water resumption and sanitation. By today evening, the water supply will be restored. But they (people) cannot drink water because there will be a lot of silting," Dhyanachandra told PTI.

He said the civic body will launch a campaign to dissuade people from drinking tap water.

On Wednesday, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said water supplied by the municipality should not be used for the first two days at least as it has to be tested for quality, considering its muddied nature due to the unprecedented deluge.

He said the authorities would inform people after carrying out tests but hinted that it 'could' be used for bathing purposes.

Meanwhile, drinking water is also being supplied to the flood-hit areas through water tankers and several people were seen collecting it in containers. Around 200 tankers are supplying drinking water.

Further, the municipal Commissioner noted that flood water had 'receded largely' and 80 per cent of the flood-affected areas were accessible, except some wards in and around Nunna area.

"There is no more information that (water level) Budameru will increase...The Irrigation Department is also trying to close the Budameru breach," he said, adding that civil supplies could begin distribution of provisions from Friday.

A resident of Ajit Singh Nagar, the worst-affected area, told PTI that many people returned to their homes as flood water had receded.

As several neighbourhoods have become accessible, Dhyanachandra said sanitation work is underway at a brisk pace, supplemented by 6,000 workers from about eight districts to bolster the local effort.

Excise Minister K Ravindra on Thursday visited Jakkulanekkalam village in Gannavaram mandal of Krishna district, where the swollen Budameru rivulet inundated thousands of acres.

Along with Gannavaram MLA Y Venkata Rao, he toured the flooded areas on boats and tractors. Flood waters reached up to 4-ft on the road there, said an official statement.