Vizianagaram: A 34-year-old woman was washed away when water gushed out from the one of the four crest gates of Tatipudi reservoir after the gate was lifted by unidentified persons at Tatipudi under Gantyada mandal in Vizianagaram district on Saturday.
As the gates are poorly maintained by the irrigation department authorities, it took seven hours to close the crest gate, resulting in wastage of over 900 cusecs of water.
A constable of AP Fire Service department B. Simchachalam, 55, was also washed away in the gusting waters when he was searching for the missing woman and a Sub-Inspector of Fire Department Dileep Kumar went missing during the search operations at Sthanavaram area under Jami mandal.
The missing woman was identified as Gammela Thademma, native of the Dorlapalem area under S Kota mandal in the district. As per the reports, Thademma and another woman B. Bheemalamam were washing clothes at the downside of the crest gates of the reservoir when the water gushed out from the 4th flood gate. Thademma was washed away in the gushing waters while Bheemalamam was rescued by some persons at the spot. The incident occurred in around 9 am on Saturday.
The NDRF, police and fire service personnel swung into action to trace the missing woman and a technical team of irrigation department rushed to Tatipudi to close the gate.
“We suspect someone came to the reservoir and switched the button to open the gate. The incident has led to a tragedy besides water wastage,” said executive engineer of irrigation department M. Venkata Ramana.
Sources said the flood gate went up 3 m, resulting in 900 cusecs of water gushing down the gate submerging huge tracts of farmland in Gantyada, S Kota, and Jami mandals.
District collector Vivek Yadav, who visited the spot, instructed the officials to take immediate steps to rescue the missing woman. The officials alerted villagers downstream in the three mandals and also Bhemili and Padmanabham mandals in Vizag city.
“No doubt it was a case of ‘manmade tragedy’ and I have ordered an inquiry into the incident and would punish the responsible person,” he said.
The missing woman’s husband is a daily wage worker and her five-year-old boy is physically and mentally challenged. The collector said they would announce compensation to them.
“Tatipudi reservoir is a major source of drinking water for Vizagites, besides being a major tourist attraction. But, the Irrigation department has not been maintaining the electrically-operated crest gates and the iron ropes of the gates were in bad conditions due to rusting,” locals alleged.
During the search operation, a head constable of fire department B. Simhachalam had ventured into the waters near an old bridge with the help of a rope at Sthanavaram in Jami mandal and slipped into the swirling waters. His body was retrieved and kept at the Jami government hospital.
Sub-Inspector of Fire Department Dileep Kumar, too, was caught in the waters. However, he escaped after some struggle.
