Heavy rains batter Krishna, Guntur

Vijayawada: Incessant rains wreaked havoc in Krishna and Guntur districts with heavy rainfall breaking the record of the past 30 years. Vijayawada received 29-cm rainfall during the past 24 hours crippling the normal life.

According to the Disaster Management authorities, Vatsavai town in Krishna district recorded 32.3 cm rainfall, Jaggaiahpet 27 cm, Tiruvur 26 cm, Guntur 26 cm, while 14 mandals recorded more than 20 cm rainfall on single a day. Meanwhile, 17 people stranded in a building on the city outskirts could not be rescued by the NDRF team as there was a sudden rise of flood waters.

Fortunately, there have been no fresh casualties after Saturday incidents in which nine people lost their lives.

As water from Budameru inundated even the highway, traffic between Hyderabad and Vijayawada has been temporarily suspended at Chillakallu toll plaza and at Itavaram near Nandigama.

The government declared holiday for all schools on Monday.

According to Vijayawada Municipal Commissioner H M Dhyanachandra, “Budameru (canal) is overflowing in multiple areas and there was a breach also. Up to 12 wards were submerged. Upstream gates were closed to arrest the inflows. Around 3,000 people were evacuated.” Assuring that the Budameru situation would come under control, the Municipal Commissioner noted that NDRF and SDRF teams were taking up relief operations.

People of several areas in Budameru region, including Singh Nagar, Nandamuri Nagar and Payakapuram, faced severe hardships due to submergence of their houses and water level reaching up to the first floor of some buildings.

Around two lakh cusecs of flood water flowed through Budameru and other streams. Prakasam barrage received 8.9 lakh cusecs on Sunday and it is likely to go up to 10 lakh cusecs by Monday. The power generation at VTPS was stopped.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who is continuously monitoring the situation, visited the worst-affected areas and directed the officials to strengthen the Prakasam barrage downstream weak bunds.

As the railway tracks were submerged with flood water at several places in Vijayawada division, several trains were cancelled, and some trains were diverted. The Tamil Nadu Express train was stopped at Rayanapadu railway station and alternative arrangements for the passengers were being made to send them to their destinations.