(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Two women both sisters were washed in the swirling waters of a rivulet near Madgula village in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh as heavy rains caused by Cyclone Nilofar lashed the south coastal districts of the state which is yet to recover from the devastation caused by Cyclone Hudhud.
Besides the south coastal districts of Krishna Guntur and Prakasam heavy rains continued to cause heavy damage to standing crops in parts of Rayalaseema and Telangana too. Several low-lying areas in the affected districts have been inundated with flood waters bringing misery to the residents.
Sources said D Anasuyamma (50) and her younger sister Orusu Radha (48) of Guntur city were crossing a rivulet when they were caught in the swirling waters and swept away. While the body of Anasuyamma has been recovered Radha’s body is yet to be traced.
Flood waters entered several residential colonies in Macharla Guntur and Piduguralla besides disrupting road connectivity to 12 villages in the district with rivulets streams and canals overflowing. Vehicular traffic on the Guntur-Macharla road was stopped by police as the swollen Galivagu rivulet was overflowing above the height of the bridge. The highest rainfall of 29 cm was recorded at Macharla in Guntur district followed by Rentachintala (15 cm) and Bapatla (11 cm).
Meanwhile the water level at Pulichintala project across river Krishna downstream of the Nagarjunasagar Project (NSP) is gradually increasing due to heavy inflows. Seven crest gates were lifted at the Nagarjunasagar dam to allow 74000 cusecs water to flow into Prakasam Barrage. Irrigation Department authorities in Andhra in turn lifted as many as 35 crest gates of Prakasam Barrage to discharge 15000 cusecs of water into the sea.
The heavy rains have caused considerable damage to standing crops but it has definitely brought down the tension that had peaked between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana last week over power generation and utilization of waters in Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar Hydel projects.
The chief engineer of Krishna Delta Systems (KDS) asked the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government in Telangana not to release water from the Nagarjunasagar Dam through the power house as scores of villages had been inundated under the Pulichintala Project Dam as well as the water being discharged from the Prakasam Barrage.
The Telangana government responded positively to the request and stopped utilizing water for power generation in Nagarjunasagar dam.
KDS chief engineer V S Ramesh Babu said: “The situation may continue for another two to three days; much depends on the rains. We have asked the Telangana government not to release Nagarjunasagar waters and they have stopped it.”
The Telangana government has almost stopped power generation from Srisailam project too except running the units to produce a small quantity of power for grid maintenance. This follows a considerable drop in agriculture power demand in Telangana following heavy rains in Medak Karimnagar Nalgonda Ranga Reddy and Mahbubnagar districts.
Governor E S L Narasimhan too did his bit to ease hostility between the two states by initiating a dialogue between the two state governments. Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao ministers from both the states and senior government officials participated in the talks initiated by the governor following the controversy over power generation from Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar dams.
KCR as the chief minister is known briefed Narasimhan on why his government had taken the stand to generate power from the two projects. He reportedly pointed out the failure of the Andhra Pradesh government to comply with various provisions in the AP Reorganization Act.
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