Incessant rain in Andhra Pradesh has claimed 20 lives, while two more persons were also reported missing on Friday.
The rain has also prompted large-scale evacuations with 67,419 people having shifted to 135 relief camps in the last five days. In Srikakulam alone, nearly 45,000 people have been shifted to relief camps. Vamsadhara, Bahuda and Nagaavaali rivers in the district are in spate, keeping authorities there on high alert.
Heavy rain and floods have caused 117 tanks to breach, inundating hundreds of villages in north and south coastal Andhra and south Telangana.
Government reports suggest that 3,050 houses were completely damaged and over 4.34 lakh hectares of crops, including 2 lakh hectare of cotton had been washed away.
In Prakasam and Guntur districts, hundreds of farm workers were stranded in agricultural fields surrounded by flood water. Police, fire and 7 teams of NDRF are working round the clock in rescuing stranded villagers and passengers from low level bridges across seasonal streams. River Krishna is in spate with a heavy inflow of floodwater.
In the open cast mines of Adilabad and Manchiryala in Telangana, the rains have affected production of 13,000 tonnes of coal. In Hyderabad, water levels in the Hussainsagar Lake has risen to near-capacity at 513.35 feet, prompting GHMC to issue flood warning to those living in the low-lying areas in its vicinity.
Low-lying areas in LB Nagar were inundated, while Hyderabad-Vijayawada road near Hayatnagar is water-logged.
Chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy on Thursday night instructed collectors of Srikakulam, Prakasam, Guntur and other districts to give top priority to rescue efforts, evacuating people to safer places and organising relief measures, official sources said here on Friday.
IMD’s bulletin forecasts moderate to rather heavy Rain or thundershowers over most places in Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Rayalaseema & Telangana till Sunday, while also predicting Heavy to very heavy rain at a few places with extremely heavy rain at isolated places in all the districts of Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in the next 48 hours. It also predicted heavy to very heavy rain at isolated places in all the districts of Rayalaseema in the same period.
Jagan to go ahead with rally
Undeterred by incessant rains and threats from pro-Telangana groups, Jaganmohan Reddy has decided to go ahead with his pro-united AP rally on Saturday, DHNS reports.The rally, called Samaikhya Sankharavam, is expected to attract party workers from Seemandhra in their hundreds and thousands to Hyderabad’s Lal Bahadur stadium, the venue.
But the opposition Telugu Desam has alleged the meeting is part of the Congress-YSRC understanding to consolidate Seemandhra votes.
Pro-Telangana organizations, including the students’ Joint Action Committee, have vowed to disrupt the meeting and prevent people of other regions from gathering at the stadium.
Photo-shopped images depicting Osmania University students in blue cricket gear playing with Jagan in green at the LB stadium are doing the rounds.
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