Floodwaters from the damaged Peddavagu project have inundated agricultural lands in several villages of Velairpad mandal in Andhra Pradesh’s Eluru district, after a ring bund that had already been broken gave way again under heavy rainfall on Wednesday.

The water spread across farmland in around seven villages that fall under the project’s ayacut, the area an irrigation project is designed to serve. Andhra Pradesh officials have since alerted residents and farmers in the mandal and asked them to move to safe places.

A Ring Bund That Had Already Failed

The Peddavagu project is not a new source of trouble. The structure, located at Gummadavelli on the border between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, was breached in July 2024 after heavy rains fell in its catchment. It has remained defunct since then.

The damage did not stop there. A ring bund built on the left side of the spillway washed away in the first week of September 2024 during floods. That structure was the barrier that was supposed to hold water back from the surrounding land, and its loss left the farms below exposed.

The latest flooding began with rain. According to the report, the project has been receiving inflows from cyclonic rains in its catchment over the past few days. On Wednesday, those inflows reached a point where floodwaters flowed over the already damaged ring bund and breached it further.

Rain Figures That Tell the Story

The rainfall numbers are stark. Aswaraopet mandal in Telangana’s Bhadradri Kothagudem district received an extremely heavy rainfall of 27.8 cm by 6 pm on Wednesday. That mandal sits upstream of the damaged structure, which is why its downpour matters so much for the villages below.

Neighbouring mandals were also hit. Dammapet and Mulakalapalli mandals recorded very heavy rainfall of 18.8 cm and 14.9 cm respectively by 6 pm on the same day. Those totals show the rain was not confined to a single spot, and that the catchment was under pressure from more than one direction.

Where Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Meet in the Water

This is a story that crosses the state line. The rain fell in Telangana, the broken project sits on the border, and the flooding has landed in Andhra Pradesh’s Eluru district. The farms in Velairpad mandal are paying the price for conditions that began upstream, which makes the Peddavagu case a shared problem for both states rather than a local incident for one.

For farmers in Velairpad, the immediate concern is simple. Their fields are under water, and officials are asking them to leave low-lying areas. The report does not say how long the water will stay or how much of the standing crop has been lost, so those questions remain open.

Andhra Pradesh officials have alerted the residents and farmers in the mandal while asking them to move to safe places.

That instruction is the clearest sign of how serious the situation has become. Officials did not wait for the water to reach homes before issuing it. They moved to get people out of harm’s way while the ring bund was still giving way.

What the Breach Means for the Villages Below

An irrigation project is supposed to protect and feed the land it serves. When it fails, the same water that should irrigate fields turns into a threat. The Peddavagu project has been out of action since July 2024, and the damage that followed in September that year has now been tested again by a new spell of heavy rain.

The pattern is hard to ignore. A structure that was breached once, then lost a key protective wall in the same year, was hit again when cyclonic rains pushed inflows into the project. The report links the current flooding directly to those inflows and to the ring bund that had already been damaged.

The report does not provide a count of affected families, damage estimates, or a timeline for repairs. What it does establish is that the project’s defences have been compromised for more than two years, and that the land downstream has been left exposed each time the rains return.

The Immediate Picture

As of Wednesday evening, the core facts are clear. Floodwaters have crossed the damaged ring bund. Farmland in around seven villages in Velairpad mandal is underwater. Residents and farmers have been told to move to safe places. Heavy rain has fallen across Aswaraopet, Dammapet and Mulakalapalli mandals, with Aswaraopet recording the highest figure at 27.8 cm.

The next steps will depend on how much more rain falls on the catchment and how the water behaves at the damaged structure. Those are the questions residents and farmers in Eluru district will be watching closely in the hours ahead.