Heavy rain lashes coast, Seema

Amaravati: As monsoon has been very active not only in the two Telugu States but also in the upper riparian states of Karnataka and Maharashtra and with IMD's prediction that more rains in coastal districts with heavy to very heavy rains at isolated places and light to moderate rains in Rayalaseema districts, the State Government has put the administration on high alert.

As precautionary measure, the Government has deployed two teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in Visakhapatnam district, two teams to Polavaram, two teams in Devipatnam and one team to Bhadrachalam.

Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, who held a video conference on Thursday, alerted the district collectors to be on high alert to tackle the possible flood situation effectively.

The officials alerted the people of low-lying areas and advised the fishermen not to venture into sea. Several districts in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema received heavy rainfall during the past two days resulting in overflowing of streams and rivulets leading to disruption in traffic movement.

With incessant drizzle in Vijayawada, Guntur, Rajamahendravaram, Tirupati and other places in the State, main thoroughfares resembled streams. In Krishna district, important roads got inundated with rainwater. In Gampalagudem, Kattaleru and Wyra rivulets were seen overflowing.

Police prevented movement of vehicles in some areas of Veerulapadu mandal on Thursday as a precautionary measure.

In Tribal areas of Visakhapatnam, overflowing of streams led to problems for people staying in Agency areas. They had to show ingenuity in transporting a pregnant woman to hospital.

As they could not take her in the doli following heavy flow of water, they had cut a big tree and converted it into a temporary bridge to cross the stream and reach the ambulance that was waiting on the other side.

Light rains were witnessed in Nellore, Prakasam and Guntur districts. Incessant rains during the past couple of days have resulted in breaches to scores of village tanks in Anantapur district.

More than 500 livestock were killed. The village tanks of Dodagatlacheruvu in Gorantla mandal and Vasatharavacheruvu and Gangireddipalle cheruvu in Puttaparthi suffered breaches. Besides a check dam near the Chitravati river suffered damage. Rainwater filled 748 village tanks to the tune of 7.509 tmc feet of water. The total rainfall in the district registered on Thursday stands at 245 mm.

In Kurnool, officials have been directed to arrange for relief camps and shift people from low-lying areas to these camps if flood situation worsens. Police officials have been asked to ensure people not to cross the bridges, where rivers and streams are overflowing.