Incessant rains paralyse normal life in Tirupati

 Tirupati: Torrential rains continued to wreak havoc across Tirupati district for a second consecutive day, bringing normal life to a standstill. Heavy rainfall, which began Tuesday night, persisted throughout Wednesday, flooding roads and inundating low-lying areas across the region.

Tirupati city and its suburbs, including Karakambadi, Subbareddy Nagar, Mangalam and Settipalle, faced severe waterlogging, with roads submerged and drains overflowing, causing significant disruption to residents. Several areas like Rajiv Nagar, Auto Nagar, Korameenugunta and Singalagunta were also heavily affected. In response, Commissioner N Mourya and municipal officials visited affected areas, coordinating relief measures and relocating residents to relief camps.

Key roads, including the Air Bypass Road, Lakshmipuram Circle, SGS College Road and at the under bridge near west church among others were inundated, while stagnant water in Hathiramji Colony made commuting treacherous.

Similar conditions were reported in other parts of the district, with coastal divisions like Sullurpet and Gudur receiving heavy rainfall. Authorities in these areas are on high alert, closely monitoring flood-prone zones and evacuating residents as necessary.

In Venkatagiri also, rainwater was flowing on several roads. Vehicular traffic between Srikalahasti and Tada was completely halted. Yerpedu also saw disruptions, with a causeway closed to traffic as rainwater flooded the area.

The TTD swiftly cleared debris and restored vehicular movement. However, as a precaution, TTD suspended visits to Akashaganga, Papavinasam, Srivari Padalu and Japali Teertham due to high water levels.

Air traffic was also impacted, with an Indigo flight from Hyderabad to Tirupati being diverted to Chennai due to waterlogging on the runway. The flight later resumed its journey to Tirupati after a brief delay. Other flight operations continued as scheduled. District officials are monitoring several local tanks, including Rayala Cheruvu, Peruru Cheruvu, and Karakambadi Cheruvu and have readied sandbags for potential breaches. Authorities are preparing for possible releases of water from the Peruru tank into the Swarnamukhi River if water levels continue to rise.

If the water inflow from Tirumala hills further increases into Kapila Theertham and Malwadi Gundam, it will cause more damage in various low-lying areas in the city. The officials have been monitoring this to take relevant steps in case of any exigencies.

District Collector Dr S Venkateswar announced the closure of all schools and colleges under all managements on Thursday as well. The schools and colleges remained closed since Monday due to heavy rains.

Meanwhile, in a statement, District Agriculture Officer Prasada Rao said, the primary estimates reveal that heavy rains damaged 75 hectares of rice seedlings, 2,191 hectares of directly sown crops, 313 hectares of crops in the tillering stage, 10 hectares of rice crops in the harvesting stage and four hectares of corn.