A major row is underway in Andhra Pradesh even as heavy downpour in the catchment area of the Godavari basin has triggered flash floods in East and West Godavari districts over the past one week. Meanwhile continuous rains lashing coastal Andhra have resulted in flash floods along the godavari river over the past week and resulted in water rising in the Doleswaram barrage. Accordingly 19,000 people have been evacuated from low lying areas and shifted to relief camps.
Meanwhile the controversy relates to politics over the construction of the Polavaram Irrigation Project in the state, which has been contentious from its inception. Furthermore the YSRCP government claims that it was the previous Telugu Desam Party's (TDP) government’s move to construct a cofferdam and increase its height, without completing work on the spillway, which led to the flooding. Apparently the YSRCP government claims that damage in Devipatnam mandal, which is one of the worst-affected areas due to the floods, could have been prevented if the TDP took up construction of the Polavaram project in a better way.
When speaking to reporters earlier this week, Irrigation Minister P Anil Kumar Yadav said, "Even when we declare the third warning as the water level increases, the situation is never so grave. However, this time, even as we issued the first warning, the inundation has begun in Devipatnam mandal. This is only because of the cofferdam. Now several lakh cusecs of water, due to the flood, is splitting in the middle and going through this narrow area of 600 metres. As a result, we are seeing the water overflow to more villages than it otherwise would have”.
