Andhra Pradesh, Telangana sound red alert for possible water-borne diseases

New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have sounded a red alert and are preparing for any possible outbreak of water-borne diseases as unprecedented torrential rains have battered the states leading to widespread damage to roads, crops, homes and vital installations.

The rainfall has broken records with officials citing pre-Independence rainfall figures to compare what the two states have received since August 30. Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu and Telangana CM Revanth Reddy are travelling across districts overseeing the relief works.

ET spoke to Andhra Pradesh chief secretary Neerabh Kumar Prasad and Telangana special chief secretary (disaster management) Arvind Kumar, who are spearheading relief measures in the two states to check the extent of damage and why the worst may not be over:


Rainfall statistics
Due to heavy rainfall, almost resembling cloudburst situation, Krishna River is in a spate and has crossed the danger mark. According to officials, against an average rainfall of 5.2 millimetres, Telangana received about 97.88 mm rainfall in 24 hours. Andhra Pradesh received 20 centimetres on August 30 and 33 centimetres on August 31. Speaking to ET, Andhra Pradesh CS said, "The second warning mark on the river is when the flow is 5.66 lakh cusecs. Krishna River crossed the 11 lakh cusecs level on Monday. Water has receded slightly but it is still at 8.9 lakh cusecs." Putting the data in perspective, Prasad said that the last time the river had such a high flow was in 2009 at 10.8 lakh and 11 lakh level was reached pre-Independence.

Worst-affected areas
Five districts in Andhra Pradesh (Palnadu, Guntur, Bapatla, NTR and Krishna) have been hit with Vijayawada city being the worst-affected. In Telangana, four districts (Khammam, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Mahabubabad and Suryapet) have been battered with Khammam being the worst-affected. Telangana special CS (disaster management) said, "The initial estimate of damage has been pegged at ₹5,400 crore which is largely due to damage to roads, municipal administration, cross loss, homes, electrical installations and breach of 44 tanks."