“Is it safe,” I asked. There has been no warning issued so far, the ferryman said. This was hardly the reassurance that I was seeking as I looked at the Godavari frothing and flowing rapidly.



The others didn’t seem as concerned as me. Accompanying me were SVR Rao (a consultant) and Somu (my colleague at Hyderabad). Both of them happily sat down on the benches inside the ferry.



It seemed like a long wait before we actually set out. Ganesh (Mandal Revenue Officer, Kunavaram Mandal) and R Sridhar (Assistant Engineer of Kunavaram Electricity Substation) joined us. Then there were men running down the slope of the river bank with chairs. They set up the chairs on the roof.

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