Cyclone Arnab: Heavy inflows swell rivers across three North Andhra districts

Suvarnamukhi river near Seethanagaram in Parvatipuram Manyam district receiving huge inflows with the impact of Arnab cyclone. | Photo Credit: ARRANGEMENT

All major rivers, rivulets, seasonal streams across Srikakulam, Parvatipuram-Manyam and Vizianagaram districts were in spate after their catchment areas received huge inflow of waters under the impact of the very severe cyclonic storm Arnab that crossed the Andhra Pradesh coast near Yanam, in the early hours of Wednesday.

According to data provided by the Srikakulam district administration, the average rainfall in normal conditions is only 136.5 mm but the district received 4,094.2 mm rainfall between 8 a.m. on Tuesday and 8 a.m. on Wednesday.

Heavy rainfall in the district and upstream catchment areas led to increased inflows into the rivers Vamsadhara, Nagavali, Mahindra Tanaya, Bahuda and others.

The Narayanpur Anicut on the Nagavali river received 38,100 cusecs of water. The Irrigation Department released a similar quantity downstream. The old bridge over the Nagavali river in Srikakulam town was in spate with the release of water into the Narayanpur Anicut.

The Gotta barrage on the Vamsadhara river received 6,544 cusecs of water in the early hours of Wednesday.

Srikakulam District Collector Swapnil Dinakar Pundkar who visited Polaki and other mandals told The Hindu that the situation was under control with the precautionary steps taken up by the government. He said that irrigation, revenue, Roads and Buildings departments were alerted to take necessary steps in flood affected areas.

Rivers such as Suvarnamukhi, Vegavati and others are receiving huge inflows of water but there is no immediate threat of floods for Parvatipuram, Seethanagaram, Bobbili and other areas, according to officials.

Vizianagaram Collector S. Ramsundar Reddy said that the government was monitoring flood situation in all rivers and there was no need to worry as people from sensitive areas were shifted to safe places on Tuesday morning.

Published - October 28, 2026 09:06 pm IST