Rain wreaks havoc in Andhra, 10 dead

Amaravati: At least 10 deaths were confirmed due to flooding as incessant rain under the influence of a system in the Bay of Bengal wrought havoc in Andhra Pradesh mainly in undivided Krishna and Guntur districts.

While light to moderate rains were witnessed in coastal districts, Vijayawada and Guntur recorded the highest amount of rainfall of 35 to 38 cm on any day in the past two decades. Five were reported killed in Vijayawada following a landslide. Normal life was hit for the third consecutive day even as schools were declared a holiday and supply of essential items like milk and drinking water was seriously hit in Krishna and Guntur as most of the streets were found under two to five feet rainwater. An estimated 8.8 lakh cusecs of water was discharged from Prakasam barrage.

Production at Vijayawada Thermal Power Station (VTPS) was suspended. Movement of several trains including Godavari, Garib Rath and Vande Bharat Express originating from Visakhapatnam towards Secunderabad/Hyderabad were cancelled due to water logging at Rayannapadu station in Vijayawada division.

After a review meeting, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu told the media that they have opened relief camps and shifted people to safe places from low-lying areas. He said special control rooms have been opened in all the rain-affected districts. Ministers have been deputed to affected areas to monitor the situation. Each district has been granted Rs 3 crore for taking up immediate relief and rescue operations. Rice, dal, oil and other ration material is being distributed in the rain-hit areas.