VIJAYAWADA :
ANINTER-MINISTERIALteam
from the Central Government
on Thursday began its visit of
the flood-affected districts in
Andhra Pradesh.
The teamheadedbySanjeev
Kumar Jindal visited
Vijayawada, the worst affected place, to estimate the losses and destruction, said an official press release.
The Central team visited the
State Emergency Operations
Centre in the Andhra Pradesh
State Disaster Management
Authority (APSDMA) office in
Tadepalli, where officials
explained about the torrential
rains and floods.
Later, the officials also visited Prakasam Barrage, which
was recently hit by three large
drifting boats,damagingaconcrete beam.
As the flood waters began to
recede at many places here,
personnel of the Vijayawada
civic body are busily engaged
in sanitation work and also
restoringwater supply, an official said on Thursday.
However, Vijayawada
MunicipalCommissionerH M
Dhyanachandra said people
mustrefrainfromdrinking the
restored municipal tap water
at the moment as it was not
potable. “Today, we are focusing on municipal water
resumptionandsanitation. By
today evening, the water supply will be restored. But they
(people) cannot drink water
because there will be a lot of
silting,” Dhyanachandra said.
He said the civic body will
launchacampaigntodissuade
peoplefromdrinkingtapwater.
On Wednesday, Chief
Minister N Chandrababu
Naidu said water supplied by
themunicipalityshouldnotbe
used for the first two days at
least as it has to be tested for
quality, considering its muddied nature due to the un precedented deluge. He said the
authorities will inform people
after carrying out tests.
CROPS IN 1.8 LAKH HADAMAGED: SHIVRAJ SINGH
CHOUHAN: FLOODS in
Andhra Pradesh damaged
crops in 1.8 lakh hectares (ha),
and 2 lakh farmers have been
impacted as per initial estimate, Union Agriculture
Minister Shivraj Singh
ChouhansaidonThursdayand
assuredofprovidinghelpfrom
the Central Government.
Chouhan, who is on a twodayvisittoAndhraPradeshand
Telangana to assess the flood
situation,said:“Thecropshave
suffered a lot of damage.
Flowers are cultivated here,
turmeric is cultivated, all the
crops have been damaged”.
The assessmentprocesshas
begun, and NDRF teams and
Agriculture Department officials are evaluating the damage, he said, adding that “after
completingthedamageassessment work, the Central
Government will provide all
possible support”.