Ten killed in Andhra Pradesh as rain wreaks havoc

At least 10 people died in the northern coastal Andhra Pradesh due to heavy rains and related incidents in the last two days. Heavy rains continued to pound the state, causing damage to roads and disrupting power supply in several places.

A day after the deep depression formed in the Bay of Bengal crossed its shore and moved towards Telangana, Andhra Pradesh is reeling under the vast trail of waterlogging caused by the rains.

The state government had to deal with nearly eight lakh cusecs of water flow in the Krishna river at the Prakasam Barrage that flooded many low-lying areas of Vijayawada and a large number of villages downstream to the Bay of Bengal.

Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, in a high-level meeting, asked the officials especially of the Krishna and Guntur districts to be vigilant as four lakh cusecs from Srisailam and incessant rains caused flood waters from the Telangana region rushed towards Vijayawada.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Reddy over the telephone, enquiring about the flood situation in the state.

Several areas in the East and West Godavari, Visakhapatnam districts which received very heavy rainfall on Tuesday are still submerged in waters.

A breach occurred to the Sarada river bund near Yalamanchili in Visakhapatnam district, inundating over 2,000 acres of agricultural fields in the vicinity. Tandava, Raivada, Meghadrigadda projects in the district received heavy inflows and the flood was being discharged into the Bay of Bengal.

In a video conference with the Collectors and SPs on Wednesday, CM Reddy had instructed the officials to provide all support and arrangements like food, safe drinking water, medicines for the people taking shelter in the relief camps. He announced an immediate relief of Rs 500 to each person in the camps.

The CMO said in a release that the chief minister ordered that an ex-gratia must be paid to the families of those who lost their lives. The amount, however, was not specified.

Reddy directed the officials to focus on restoration of power supply and repairs to the damaged roads on a war-footing.

He told the officials to prepare an action plan to make the best use of floodwaters for irrigation etc., purposes without letting them go waste into the sea.

Pointing out that despite Chittoor receiving 40 per cent excess rainfall this season, only 30 per cent of the reservoirs are filled in the district, Reddy advised the authorities to ensure that every reservoir, canals, tanks, and ponds are filled with the floodwater in the state

The famous nurseries at Kadiyam near Rajamahendravaram were flooded due to downpour in East Godavari district. Vamsadhara river in Srikakulam district received heavy flood under the impact of heavy rain in the catchment area in neighbouring Odisha.

The first flood warning has been issued as more than 50,000 cusecs of floodwater was discharged at Gotta Barrage, the State Disaster Management Authority said. Disaster Management Commissioner K Kanna Babu, in a release here, asked people residing in low-lying areas and those in lanka villages to remain on high alert and move to safer places in view of the flood.

(With inputs from PTI)