AP FLOODS A TOI REPORT

 AP Floods November 2021

The recent depression in the Bay of Bengal caused massive flooding in parts of Andhra Pradesh, especially in Chittoor and Kadapa districts. Tirumala, where the famous Lord Venkateswara temple is located, and Tirupati city were hit by floods of unprecedented scale. Somasila reservoir in Nellore district discharged all-time high of 5.5 lakh cusecs of water. Irrigation officials lifted 10 crest gates of the reservoir following heavy rain in catchment areas.

The recent heavy rains wreaked havoc in Rayalaseema region triggering flash floods. A portion of the Pincha project was washed away and that led to heavy inflows into the Annamayya project on the Cheyyur river. The heavy rains (8 cm to 10 cm rainfall in three hours) along the Cheyyur river and the continuous rains for a few days from November 18 were the major reasons for the floods, he added. Rayalaseema region witnessed good rainfall during the southwest monsoon and most of the irrigation projects in the region received good inflows. But the sudden heavy rains led to massive floods in the region. Dismissing social media reports claiming that ‘the recent floods in AP are the worst in 140 years,’ an official said they might be the worst in the past two decades.

Though IMD warned heavy rainfall over Rayalaseema region and Nellore district, the officials didn’t release the water from the reservoirs initially to mitigate the flood situation. The heavy inflow of rainwater led to breaches to some waters bodies and that led to floods in some parts of the Rayalaseema region, said a senior officer with IMD.

The recent flash flood claimed the lives of more than 40 people while several others are still missing in Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra Pradesh region.