Hyderabad: Chandrababu Naidu, Andhra Pradesh’s “CEO” Chief Minister, is now donning the cap of a rescuer in flood-hit Vijayawada after unusual, heavy rains in the NTR district, among other areas, in the state.
Since Sunday, the 74-year-old CM has been wading in knee-deep water, sailing in rubber boats, or riding atop earthmovers on Vijayawada’s streets and reaching out to locals with safety assurances and food packets, sometimes even in the middle of the night.
Naidu’s hands-on, on-the-ground involvement comes over and above the constant, real-time reviews he has been holding on the alarming flood situation in Vijayawada-Amaravati and their surroundings with senior bureaucrats at the NTR district collectorate.
He is now camping at the administrative building in Vijayawada and taking brief hours of rest in his caravan parked outside.
The scene is a throwback to the CM spearheading days-long relief operations from his caravan at the Visakhapatnam collectorate after a very severe cyclonic storm, Hudhud, battered the port city on 12 October 2014.
“It (Hudhud) was a big calamity, of a national disaster scale, though not categorised as such officially. People, press, and even officials thought it would take Vizag about a month or so to be back on its feet. But, CM garu was there the next day, fronting the relief and rehabilitation to repair and restoration works,” N. Yuvaraj, the then Visakhapatnam district collector, told ThePrint.
“The CM’s presence on the ground—moving around the city instead of monitoring the progress from the secretariat—made all the difference. Along with him, several department heads and higher-ups were either there (on-site) or focused on the city. Vizag could return to normalcy within days. Not just passing orders, he kept a strict tab on progress made with regular reviews,” Yuvaraj added.
According to the IAS officer, the 185 kilometres per hour speed of the winds at the landfall time uprooted roughly one lakh electricity poles in the city—the industrial capital of Andhra Pradesh—with the Army later arriving to help with the power restoration.
“The CM spoke with his Tamil Nadu counterpart and got 35 thousand poles transported here. He spoke with West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and got lorries of potatoes dispatched here. Odisha sent relief material and disaster response personnel. Power restoration began within 24 hours of the cyclone subsiding,” Yuvaraj, now secretary of industries, said.
Now, Naidu is back to what he is best at, dealing with another natural disaster in Vijayawada and making officials run around to provide the flood-affected people succour.
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‘A societal effort’
The government is currently providing the flood-affected people food, milk, etc., procured from the neighbouring districts. The state has also involved hoteliers and restaurateurs’ associations who have arranged food packets for distribution.
Another IAS officer, who worked closely with Naidu, on condition of anonymity, said, “The CM breathing down your neck is disconcerting at times.” “But, at day-end, you feel honoured, richly experienced for working with an able, vastly experienced administrator. He involves party, political groups, NGOs, various associations, common people—making it a societal effort, not just of the government.”
On Sunday, Naidu spoke with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, extracting assurance of all possible aid to the state—firstly, six choppers, 40 powerboats and 10 NDRF teams.
Unlike other politicians, Naidu sees power as a responsibility, Andhra Pradesh Gazetted Officers Joint Action Committee chairman K.V. Krishnaiah told ThePrint. “His vision, dedication and hard work at such an age leaves young and experienced officers, and other government staff in awe. He is lovingly and, sometimes, grudgingly referred to as pani-raakshasudu (work monster/workaholic) in our conversations.”
On Monday, Naidu inspected the Prakasam Barrage on River Krishna—where the outflow is over 11 lakh cusecs—with fears rising about the structure’s safety.
Over the past three days, Naidu has visited the submerged areas in Vijayawada several times and interacted with the public.
“Until the problem is solved and everyone gets help, I will make the District Collector’s office the CM’s office and work from here,” Naidu wrote on X after visiting the worst-affected Singh Nagar area Sunday.
My Dear People,
I have personally seen and heard the immense plight of #VijayawadaFloods victims. We'll brave these floods and overcome them together. I'm personally monitoring the situation in Vijayawada and overseeing rescue and relief operations. With help from the Central… pic.twitter.com/3djHnNCIVj
— N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) September 2, 2024
The CM’s presence on the ground, locals said, has revved up the state machinery involved in the flood mitigation efforts and instilled confidence among the lakhs of people stranded inside their homes, too.
“With CM garu at the helm, we can see the government machinery moving fast in the rescue-relief work. It’s great to have a CM who at 74 years of age is determinedly involved in flood relief in such weather. We are grateful,” said Uppala Ravi Kumar, a trader, at Bandar Road.
However, relief is yet to reach many stranded residents in low-lying areas.
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CM’s Undavalli residence ‘illegal’, ‘inundated’
On the other hand, the opposition Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP), while accusing the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-led government of late, inadequate response, has also been alleging that Naidu was forced out of his Undavalli residence, allegedly illegally built on the Krishna River bed on the other side of Vijayawada.
YSRCP, in a series of tweets Monday, posted several visuals of heavy inundation along the Karakatta (river embankment) road on which lies the Undavalli house, which Naidu leased from a businessman, Lingamaneni Ramesh.
“The residence is situated in a low-lying area along the banks of the Krishna River—a location that inherently makes it susceptible to flooding, particularly during the monsoon season when the river swells. This year, the situation has been exacerbated by unusually heavy rains and the subsequent release of water from upstream reservoirs,” stated a post from the YSRCP official handle Monday.
According to the post, the residence is constructed on a riverbed and categorised as illegal. “Criticism has also mounted over the fact that, despite being the Chief Minister, Chandrababu Naidu is setting a dangerous precedent by continuing to reside in an illegal structure,” the party further said in the X post, reminding people that the YSRCP government had issued notices to Naidu in the past, warning about the legality of the construction. “Yet these warnings went unheeded, as Naidu chose to continue living in the house.”
Party leaders said that the Naidu administration has even blocked access to or view of the CM’s bungalow to hide the flood situation.
Speaking to ThePrint, Ambati Rambabu, water resources minister in former CM Jagan Mohan Reddy’s cabinet, said, “The CM and his son Lokesh had to flee the submerged house.”
“However, the CM loves to falsely claim that he is at the collectorate for the sake of the flood-affected. Except for farming and certain temporary structures, no constructions are allowed on the river bed. Naidu might manage to get stay orders from courts or, now that he is CM again, manage the system, but the fact remains that his residence is illegal,” Ambati said.
YSRCP chief Jagan, after visiting the flood affected areas Monday, claimed that Vijayawada “was inundated as the CM wanted to save his house”. Naidu, however, lambasted Jagan and called the remarks utterly ignorant.
‘YSRCP misusing flood situation’
TDP leaders reacted to the accusations, saying the YSRCP is only interested in raking up controversies, even as lakhs of people are suffering in the floods.
“When the AP government shifted to Amravati in 2016, leaving Hyderabad, the Undavalli house in the area was deemed fit, safe and secure for the CM’s residence. So, it was taken on rent or lease. The situation there is not as bad as the YSRCP would like to project,” TDP spokesperson Jyothsna Tirunagari told ThePrint.
“YSRCP also misused the situation to claim Amaravati as an unsuitable location—showing a few sparsely flooded spots in the capital area—but the secretariat and other buildings are unaffected,” said the TDP leader.
While torrential rainfall across the state—caused by a depression in the Bay of Bengal—has disrupted public life in many districts, it wreaked havoc in Vijayawada and adjoining areas.
Vijayawada, the state’s political capital, is the worst affected, mainly due to the overflowing of the Budameru stream that passes through it. The densely populated city lies on the left bank of the Krishna River, and the Prakasam Barrage regulates the river flow in this area.
More than 2.5 lakh people, especially those in the low-lying areas, remain affected in Vijayawada alone. The number is 6.4 lakh statewide. The government has set up 77 shelters in the NTR district and 193 such relief camps statewide.
HRD, IT, and Real-Time Governance Minister Lokesh has also been monitoring the rescue efforts from the state command control centre, visiting some of the swamped areas and assuring the flood-affected aged and poor people of government aid.
Officials said that 19 people have died in the state in the last two days in rain-related incidents, and two are missing. The rains have damaged crops, including horticulture, across 1.9 lakh hectares and 2851 km of roads. Currently, 48 teams of the national and state disaster response forces (NDRF, SDRF) are involved in the rescue operations in the state—33 of them are in Vijayawada and its surroundings.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)