NDRF Begins Flood Awareness Drills in ASR District
Mock drills, awareness drives begin in flood-prone mandals as river levels remain under watch
Visakhapatnam: A 30-member team from the NDRF has arrived in ASR district to conduct mock drills and hold awareness meetings with communities and officials in four mandals—VR Puram, Chintoor, Etipaka and Kunavaram—from Wednesday. The team will remain stationed in Chintoor till July 24, said ASR district collector A.S. Dinesh Kumar, during a review meeting at Paderu on Tuesday.
The team will raise awareness among villagers along the banks of the Godavari and Sabari rivers and brief officials on preventive and relief measures.
The collector noted that first-level danger signals for both rivers continue, but there has been no significant rise in water levels.
He said, “The volume is increasing, but the level remains the same,” adding that no road breaches or overflow of streams had been reported so far.
A meeting was held with residents of eight villages in VR Puram, the mandal most likely to be affected.
Many villagers have begun relocating to safer areas, recalling last year’s devastating floods which had cut off road connectivity. Restoration works are underway, including the permanent repair of the Chintoor–VR Puram road, bitumen surfacing, gravel road formation, and construction of bridges and culverts.
A proposal has also been submitted for 167 new roads to connect remote villages and improve access to healthcare and essential services.
