Rains, gales cause delay

Tirupati: Rain accompanied by heavy winds lashed parts of Chittoor district, including the pilgrim city on Monday. Power supply was disrupted as power lines were snapped due to gales at many places in the district including Tirupati, Chandragiri, Tirumala and Piler.

In Tirupati, the heavy winds tossed away the chairs in SV University stadium, the venue of Dharma Poratam meeting where two LED screens and a big hoarding collapsed. Party activists and voluntaries sprang into action, rearranged the chairs and brought the hoarding back to its position. The sudden rain and heavy wind delayed the meeting which started half-an-hour behind schedule at 6 pm.

Interestingly, the rains, in no way dampened the enthusiasm of TDP activists who started pouring and filling the venue well before the start of the meeting. However, Tirumala, the abode of Lord Venkateswara, witnessed heavy rains and hailstorm, leaving the pilgrims caught unaware of the abrupt climate change.

The pilgrim city which was reeling under severe heat with the mercury crossed 42 degree Celsius on Monday heaved a sigh of relief with the sudden rains bringing the temperature down though it caused some inconvenience due to disruption of power supply. Power was restored after an hour at some places, but in many localities it took more than two hours to resume power supply.