Flash floods leave AP-Odisha border villages inundated, traffic on NH-16 disrupted

Loddaputti village near Ichchapuram, a border town of AP inundated due to floods to the Bahuda river. | Photo Credit: ARRANGEMENT

SRIKAKULAM:

Life has become miserable for thousands of people living in Ichchapuram and surrounding villages, including Loddaputti, Korigam, Rattakanna and others, along the Andhra Pradesh- Odisha border, after flash floods inundated low-lying areas following surge of water in the Bahuda river and seasonal streams.

The flooding followed the the release of large volume of water from the Baghalati Dam located in the Patrapur block of Odisha’s Ganjam district, inundating many border villages.

Traffic on National Highway-16, which connects Chennai-Kolkata was also disrupted by the overflowing river Bahuda and seasonal streams.

Odisha irrigation officials alerted their AP counterparts before releasing around 86,000 cusecs of water from the dam on Thursday afternoon.