17 tribal habitations under water in Andhra’s Polavaram as Godavari nears first flood warning

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The Sabari in spate near the Chintoor bridge in Polavaram district, on the Andhra Pradesh-Chhattisgarh border. File | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The Godavari valley and delta are bracing for the river’s first flood warning at Dowleswaram. Upstream in Andhra Pradesh’s Polavaram district, at least 17 tribal habitations are already under water, and 171 villages have been alerted, officials told The Hindu. The Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage took in 9.66 lakh cusecs at 7 a.m. on Monday (September 28, 2026), a little short of the 10-lakh mark at which the warning is issued.

In the 24 hours to Thursday (September 24, 2026) morning, the barrage had received about 83,000 cusecs, according to the Andhra Pradesh Water Resources Information and Management System (APWRIMS).

🚨 Godavari Flood UpdateThe Godavari River at Bhadrachalam is seeing a huge late-monsoon discharge of 8,70,000 Cusecs. The flood level is set to hit the first warning mark of 43 feet in the next few hours, but it should level off and start going down by this evening. pic.twitter.com/tEthZsnHZ7

The Sabari and Sileru rivers are bringing more floodwater into the Godavari, leading to flooding in the Godavari valley and the delta. Heavy rain in Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, followed by the deep depression last week, is causing a huge inflow into the river.

The APWRIMS’s Godavari basin forecast for September 27 put the peak at the barrage at about 10.1 lakh cusecs on Monday, easing to about 9.8 lakh on Tuesday and 8 lakh on Wednesday (September 30, 2026). Its officials were working the Polavaram project’s gates to keep the flow at the barrage below the first warning level, the bulletin said. Upstream, the river was already falling at Kunavaram, Chinturu and Polavaram by Monday afternoon, the river gauges showed.

The Godavari Flood Report-2026 said: “The trend of inflow into the Godavari river at Dowleswaram remains on the rise. At least 1,400 cusecs of water is being released into the irrigation canals in the Godavari Delta.”

In the first phase of the Godavari flood, in August this year, at least 971 houses in 72 habitations were submerged, affecting more than 32,000 people, when the Sabari and Godavari flooded Polavaram district. Downstream of the Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage, a few thousand people were also affected in the Godavari Delta.

At the Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage, the first flood warning is issued at an inflow of 10 lakh cusecs and the second at about 13 lakh. At 17 lakh cusecs, the third warning is issued. In 2022, the Godavari flood exceeded the third warning level, causing an estimated ₹2,000 crore loss to roads and crops.

Over the past seven decades, the Godavari has seen more than 36 floods beyond the second warning level at all the stations in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

In August 1986, the Godavari received an unprecedented flood of 35,06,388 cusecs, leaving a trail of destruction between Bhadrachalam and the Papikonda hill range. The same year, 35 lakh cusecs of floodwater was discharged from Dowleswaram.

In Polavaram district, which lies between the Sabari and the Godavari, 171 villages have been alerted and relief measures are in place. “As many as 55 motor boats and eight big boats are kept ready at Kunavaram and V.R. Puram for relief operations. By Monday, at least 17 habitations have been submerged in the ongoing floods,” said Integrated Tribal Development Agency Project Officer Subham Nokwal.

Integrated Tribal Development Agency project officer Subham Nokwal inspecting inflows into the Sabari river at a bridge in Chintoor, Polavaram district. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Upstream of the Polavaram irrigation project, the Koya and Konda Reddi habitations in the Chintoor agency face a threat of submergence from the backwaters of the project.

In Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema district, people living on the islands have been alerted and advised to vacate their habitations, or to stay back and avoid crossing the Godavari on traditional boats.

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