Ten killed in rain havoc in Andhra Pradesh

Heavy rains continued to pound State, causing damage to roads, disrupting power supply

Amaravati: Ten people were killed in rain-related incidents across Andhra Pradesh following torrential downpour in the last 48 hours, the government said.

Heavy rains continued to pound the State, causing damage to roads and disrupting power supply in several places. For the second time in less than 20 days, river Krishna remained swollen on Wednesday as it received a heavy flood due to rainfall over the last couple of days.

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The second warning signal has been raised at Prakasam Barrage in Vijayawada as over 6.46 lakh cusecs of discharge was witnessed, posing a threat to the habitations along its left and right banks.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy held a high-level meeting here and reviewed the situation. The CMO said in a release that 10 people died in rain- related incidents in the state in the last two days.

The Chief Minister ordered that ex-gratia be immediately paid to the victims’ families.
The amount, however, was not specified. He spoke to the district Collectors and SPs via a video link and directed them to remain on high alert as rivers and rivulets were in spate.

He asked them to focus on restoration of power supply and repairs to damaged roads on a war-footing. A breach occurred to the Sarada river bund near Yalamanchili in Visakhapatnam district, inundating over 2,000 acres of agricultural fields in the vicinity.

Tandava, Raivada, Meghadrigadda projects in the district received heavy inflows and the flood was being discharged into the Bay of Bengal. The flood impact was felt in Chodavaram, Payakaraopeta, Yalamanchili and Anakapalli mandals in the district. The famous nurseries at Kadiyam near Rajamahendravaram were flooded due to downpour in East Godavari district.

Vamsadhara river in Srikakulam district received heavy flood under the impact of heavy rain in the catchment area in neighbouring Odisha. The first flood warning has been issued as more than 50,000 cusecs of floodwater was discharged at Gotta Barrage, the State Disaster Management Authority said.

Disaster Management Commissioner K Kanna Babu, in a release here, asked people residing in low-lying areas and those in lanka villages to remain on high alert and move to safer places in view of the flood.