Godavari swells at Basar, leaves low-lying areas inundated in the temple town

For the first time in nearly four decades, the Godavari, which flows through Basar, the abode of Gnana Saraswati, in Nirmal district, swelled to a dangerous level in the wee hours of Saturday, inundating several low-lying areas in the temple town.

The heavy rains that lashed the river’s catchment areas over the past few days, coupled with the discharge of huge quantities of water from Vishnupuri dam in Maharashtra’s Nanded district, pushed up the water level in the Godavari at Basar to unprecedented level in the small hours of the day.

Floodwaters from the raging Godavari encircled several shops, lodges and choultries near the historic temple, dedicated to Goddess Gnana Saraswati, on Saturday morning. The main road leading to the temple came under a sheet of water, sources said.

Several residents of Akshara Colony were stranded on the roof of their houses for a few hours as the floodwaters surrounded their buildings. Joint teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel and the local police shifted them to safer places.

The water level in Godavari at Basar showed signs of receding on Saturday evening. The official machinery remained on high alert to tackle any emergency situation.

Nirmal Collector Abhilasha Abhinav visited the flood-affected areas in the temple town late on Saturday afternoon.

She asked the officials to take immediate steps to drain out the floodwater and step up sanitation measures in the flood-affected areas.

Later, she inspected the damaged crops at the rain-ravaged Bidrelli village in Basar mandal.

At Bhadrachalam in Bhadradri Kothagudem district, the first flood warning remained in force as the water level in the Godavari hovered around 47.50 feet at 7 p.m. on Saturday.