Non-stop downpour batters Chittoor district

Tirupati: Torrential rains left Chittoor, Kadapa and Nellore districts badly battered. Since Wednesday night, normal life was paralysed and the situation was worse in Chittoor district. Most of the villages are in darkness due to no power supply. Many areas in Tirupati are under 5 to 8 feet deep water. People have been asked not to move out of their houses.

Tirumala temple has been closed and all sevas have been suspended. Kapilatheertham was in a spate. Authorities had to use ropes to rescue people. Schools in Tirupati have been closed for two days. Due to rolling down of boulders, ghat road to Tirumala has been closed.

Streams and rivulets are flowing above danger mark resulting in flash floods in many places. Several villages have been inundated. While one person got washed away near Srivari Mettu, a few vehicles were washed away at Varadarajanagar.

As schools were open on Thursday at many places students got stuck there and parents spent anxious moments till late evening when administration finally managed to send them home safely.

Even the office of additional EO camp office was inundated. Water entered Narayanagiri guest house and authorities had to shift the pilgrims to safer places. In Tirupati, the worst affected areas were Madhuranagar, Saptagiri Nagar, Subbareddy Nagar, Karakampadi, Kapilatheertham and the rail underbridge road was under five feet of water. Renigunta airport was closed and services were cancelled.

Many mandals experienced more than 12 cm rainfall. Traffic was paralysed across the district and for some areas there was no connectivity due to damage of roads and overflowing of canals.

Almost all 7,000 big, small minor irrigation tanks in the district were overflowing as the water reached the full tank level (FTL). There was flash flood in the Swarnamukhi river affecting villages in Chandragiri, Tirupati Rural, Renigunta, Yerpedu, Thottambedu and Srikalahasti. A road linking Tirupati Rural, Ramachandrapuram, Vadamalapeta, Pudi, Appalayagunta where famous Prasanna Venkateswara Swamy temple and more than 40 villages were cut off from Tiruchanur. Vehicles at Padipeta were washed away as the Nakkaleru bridge got washed away. M Krishnaiah (67) of Munilapudi Harijanawada near Tiruchanur town died on Thursday and the villagers were forced to wade through the flowing Swarnamukhi branch canal carrying the body with support of rope to perform final rites. According to official reports, 380 acres of paddy, 80 acres of groundnut, 12 acres of sugarcane, and 70 acres of tomato crops were damaged in Somala mandal due to the rains. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams plunged into action and people from low-lying areas were being moved to safer places.