Chandrababu Naidu asked to vacate house as Krishna continues to swell

The Andhra Pradesh government on Saturday served a fresh notice to former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu to vacate his rented residence in Amaravati following an alarming rise in river Krishna’s water levels because of huge inflows upstream. The residence is at Vundavalli on the river bank.

The inflow into the river at the Prakasam barrage connecting Vijayawada and Guntur, which was at the rate of 5.6 lakh cusecs on Friday, rose to 7.66 lakh cusecs on Saturday morning, inundating several houses on the river front.

From submerging the steps on the periphery of Naidu’s residence two days ago, water was found to have entered the outhouse in the backyard on Saturday. Naidu and his family members have moved to Hyderabad and his belongings have been shifted from the ground floor to the first by the caretakers.

On Saturday morning, revenue authorities served notices to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief and 32 others to vacate their houses immediately as there was every possibility of waters from the swollen Krishna completely submerging them.

In an “urgent notice” pasted on the main entrance of Naidu’s residence, Tadepalli tahasildar V Srinivasulu Reddy said since the houses were on the river front, the danger of them being submerged due to heavy floods was present.

“Already, there was an inflow [at the rate] of 7.50 lakh cusecs of water into the river and there is a possibility that [it might go up to] one lakh cusecs. This might result in complete submergence of the houses. As such, it is advised that all these houses be vacated completely to avoid any loss of lives. This notice is being served only to prevent loss of life,” Reddy said.

The notice to Naidu heated up the political atmosphere in the state with leaders from the TDP and the ruling YSR Congress indulging in a slug fest.

YSRC spokesperson Ambati Rambabu said the notice was served in the best interests of Naidu but if he remained stubborn, he would have to face Nature’s fury. “It is an illegal construction built in violation of river conservation rules. He should vacate the house immediately,” Rambabu said.

TDP general secretary and Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh tweeted that the authorities were only trying to create panic. “Water entered only up to the outhouse. And there is a lot of distance between the outhouse and the actual residence,” he said.

TDP spokesperson Bonda Uma alleged the YSRC government had been specifically targeting Naidu’s residence. Instead of focusing on relocating people in low-lying areas, it was bent on evicting Naidu, Uma said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party accused the TDP and YSRC of using the floods to settle political scores. “The YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government is busy settling personal vendetta against Naidu and it has miserably failed in tackling the flood situation,” alleged BJP leader Y S Chowdary.

The BJP’s Andhra Pradesh president, Kanna Lakshminarayana, found fault with both Naidu and Jagan. “While the man who drowned the state in debt is taking shelter in Hyderabad, the chief minister has ignored the flood situation and gone on a pleasure trip to America,” he claimed.