CM Naidu urges Centre to declare floods in Andhra Pradesh a national calamity

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said the recent torrential rain and subsequent floods in Andhra Pradesh particularly in Vijayawada is the biggest disaster he has witnessed in the state in his political careerNaidu on Monday also said he would request the Central government to declare the floods in the state as a national calamity At least 17 people have been killed in rainrelated incidents and floodsIn my career this is the biggest disasterWe had some events like the Hudhud hurricane and Titli cyclone but compared to these here the human suffering and property loss is the biggest Naidu told a press conference at the NTR district Collectorate late on MondayThe Collectorate in the district one of the worst hit by the incessant rains in the state and floods has been turned into a temporary secretariat by the chief ministerNaidu said all reports related to the calamity will be sent to the Centre and he will request it to liberally give funds to the state to recover from the lossesHe said the Prakasam Barrage in Vijayawada witnessed its highest floodwater level and recorded a discharge of 1143 lakh cusecs The barrage was designed to withstand a maximum of 119 lakh cusecs of floodwater Naidu addedBecause of 1143 lakh cusecs of floodwater water crossed the Bhavanipuram road and submerged the Swathi theatre area in Vijayawada and then flowed into Vambay Colony he saidHe said some places such as Ajit Singh Nagar are still submerged but the water is slowly receding The flood water has receded by 15 feet in Ajit Singh Nagar and also started decreasing in Bhavanipuram according to NaiduHe said water is slowly receding in the Krishna River and Budamer and added that the situation is expected to improve in the next two daysThough the depression crossed the Andhra Pradesh coast near Kalingapatnam in the states northern part he said the highest amount of rainfall occurred in NTR and Guntur districtsRainfall in Telanganas Nalgonda and Khammam districts resulted in the deluge in downstream Vijayawada area via Budameru and other rivulets Naidu saidHe expressed sadness over the fact that despite the best efforts of the government some flood victims located in last mile areas could not be supplied foodCiting the struggle by victims to get food packets at the beginning of the distribution chain itself the chief minister said he had witnessed several harrowing scenes on Monday These included a man leaving his wife behind to get food for his oneyearold child and an elderly couple going through extreme difficulties Naidu saidSo many pathetic stories today I went there in the evening Monday also I went about six to seven times I am trying in all possible ways My resolve is to provide food to the last mile at any cost he saidNaidu said 32 senior IAS officers have been appointed for 32 divisions and 179 officials assigned to an equal number of villages and ward secretariats in floodaffected areas to oversee relief operationsHe said all modes of transportation such as boats tractors and vans will be used for food distribution from Tuesday onwards Naidu observed that inaccessible places will be served by six helicopters for dropping food packetsHe highlighted that eight to nine drones were used to deliver food packets to 10000 people on Monday and assured that up to 35 more drones would be deployed on TuesdayNaidu said 35 lakh people were provided food on Monday by procuring it from all districts He assured that food will reach one lakh more peopleThe chief minister said he is also eliciting information from flood victims through surveys to serve them betterReferring to three large boats hitting the Prakasam Barrage on Monday Naidu said it was fortunate that they did not do so at critical places otherwise it could have been dangerous He claimed that there could be a conspiracy behind their drifting towards the barrageThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever