Flood water discharged without warning, say rescued staff
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It was a miraculous escape for the 200-odd workers engaged in sand mining in the Krishna river at Chevitikallu village in the district on Saturday when flood water was discharged reportedly without giving any alert.
About 132 lorries and two tractors were still stuck in the flood water, when reports last came in, at the sand ramp taken on lease by a private company.
“We climbed up the lorry cabins and shouted for help. The road laid to the ramp got washed away and the vehicles were caught in the flood water,” the rescued lorry drivers later said.
Kanchikacherla Mandal Revenue Officer (MRO) V. Rajakumari, who monitored the operation, said that the flood occurred suddenly when 75,000 cusecs of water was discharged from the Pulichintala project, besides inflows from Munneru and Kattaleru streams from Telangana.
“As usual, we went into the river around midnight to load sand. Suddenly, flood water surrounded our vehicles and the road laid to the ramp got washed away in the early hours. It’s a rebirth for us,” says a driver Rama Krishna.
Many drivers, cleaners, workers and supervisors from Ibrahimpatnam, Kondapalli, Vijayawada, Nandigama and Kanchikacherla were working at the ramp, said Kanchikacherla SI J. Lakshmi, who visited the spot.
No human loss
Krishna district Superintendent of Police (SP) Siddharth Kaushal said, “We rescued all the persons and prevented human loss. I appreciate all the officers who participated in the operation. A police picket has been arranged to prevent local people from venturing into the river, which is in spate.”
“There was no alert on Saturday, which we usually get during floods. We got stuck in the river for about four hours. Police and fire personnel and local boat owners reached the spot and rescued us,” said a worker Rama Rao.
The MRO said the operation would continue on Sunday to bring out the lorries from the river.
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