Heavy Rains, Floods in AP Inundate Crops Over 42,000 Hectares
The damages involved 708 villages in 93 mandals, affecting 52,167 farmers whose 39,383 hectares of land got inundated
Vijayawada: Following heavy rainfall and floods in various parts of Andhra Pradesh during August, several agriculture and horticulture crops spread over nearly 42,000 hectares have suffered damages due to inundation.
Based on a preliminary estimation, heavy rains and floods from August 12 till date have affected agriculture crops in the 13 districts of Guntur, NTR, West Godavari, Kakinada, Nandyal, Eluru, Dr B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema, Kurnool, East Godavari, Parvathipuram Manyam, ASR, Anantapur and YSR Kadapa.
The damages involved 708 villages in 93 mandals, affecting 52,167 farmers whose 39,383 hectares of land got inundated. Crops affected in hectares include paddy – 31,255; cotton – 3,750; maize – 2,138; green gram – 1,110; black gram – 644, groundnut 175, red gram 171 and bajra 58. Castor, ragi, seasamum and soya have been inundated in lesser areas.
With regard to horticulture crops, 15 districts suffered inundation spread over nearly 2,450 hectares in 95 villages of 40 mandals, affecting 6,242 farmers. Crops damaged inunde banana, vegetables, tomato, green chilli, onion, drumstick, pomegranate, turmeric, papaya, yam and betel vine.
Authorities estimate the input subsidy as per State Disaster Response Fund norms at ₹719.57 lakh and as per National Disaster Response Fund ₹456.07 lakh.
In the interim, Godavari River has started rising again with the first flood warning issued at Bhadrachalam after the water level touched 43 feet at 7:20 p.m. Water level is continuing to rise further.
Godavari River conservator G. Srinivas said, “At the Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage in Dowleswaram, we will issue the first flood warning when the water level touches 11.75 feet with a discharge of over 10 lakh cusec by Saturday evening.”
However, with reduced inflows in Krishna River, the first flood warning had been withdrawn at Prakasam Barrage at 5:30 am on Friday when 3.88 lakh cusecs of surplus water had been discharged. By 8:00 p.m., water level reduced to 3.08 lakh cusecs. It is likely to fall down further.
However, all safety norms are in place all along the downstream river course of Krishna as a precautionary measure.