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

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. The Srikakulam district administration had also taken steps to relocate people, but the evacuation was done only partially as it was late at night and there was no much time to inform all the villagers.

Power outages, lack of internet connectivity, added to the residents woes. Streets in several villages turned into flowing streams, preventing people from moving to safer places. “People living in Ichchapuram and surrounding villages were shocked with the sudden surge of floodwater at night.

In the absence of internet connectivity on Wednesday (October 28, 2026) night residents were unable to contact any official,” said Tarunraj, an advocate from Ichchapuram. Former Ichchapuram MLA Piriya Sairaj alleged that the government had utterly failed in taking up adequate relief measures in the flood-affected areas.

Srikakulam District Congress Committee president Sanapala Annaji Rao said that the government could have averted inundation of the villages if it had properly coordinated with the Odisha administration. Meanwhile, the administration sent National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and special teams to the border town, which is almost 120 km from Srikakulam district headquarters.

Srikakulam District Collector Swapnil Dinakar Pundkar said that normalcy would be restored in a day as the water levels were receding rapidly. He said the government was distributing food packets to all the affected residents and that special teams with boats had reached the inundated areas.

Indian Red Cross Society Srikakulam district chairman P. Jagan Mohana Rao said that the organisation had sent IRCS teams to Ichchapuram to assist in relief operations. He said that doctors, medical staff and volunteers would camp in the villages and provide help to the people in coordination with the district administration.