Andhra Pradesh reeling from heavy rains, seven killed in deluge

Guntur [India], Sept. 24 (ANI): Andhra Pradesh is reeling under the impact of heavy rains for the last four days with the well marked low pressure in Bay of Bengal, which now persists over Telangana and adjoining areas, south Chhattisgarh and Vidarbha. At least seven persons have so far died in Guntur district alone and many went missing across the State. The district is badly hit by heavy showers as around four thousand people were shifted to 30 shelters by the district administration from flood affected areas. Roads suffered a maximum with 300 km of roads damaged hampering traffic. About 1.5 km of railway track got breached which is being restored on a war footing basis. Crop in 36,500 acres damaged due to continuous downpour and stagnant waters. Hundreds of villages were marooned due to intermittent rains and road traffic was badly hit at several places. On Rajahmundry-Visakhapatnam and Addanki - Narketpalli highways vehicular traffic came to a standstill at several points. Roads suffered extensive damage in East Godavari, Vizianagaram, Prakasam, Kadapa and Kurnool districts due to incessant rain. The movement of trains was also disrupted as tracks were breached at various places. Several villages in Nandigama mandal of Krishna district were cut off due to floods to Wyra River. In Kurnool district Kundu River caused flooding of many villages and Paleru Vagu too overflowed. Crops in hundreds of acres were damaged in Koilakuntla and its surroundings. In Prakasam district cotton fields in and around Cherukuru near Parchur were flooded. Anantapur district received moderate rain with isolated heavy showers. River Krishna received heavy inflows after a long time and all the 70 crest gates of Prakasam barrage in Vijayawada were lifted up to release a large volume of 1,33,350 cusecs of water into the sea yesterday. Pulichintala dam recorded the highest inflow of water so far discharging even an higher amount of waters at 1,84,500 cusecs from the dam. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu took stock of the situation in flood-hit areas and instructed the officials to act promptly and swiftly with the help of NDRF teams and police to mitigate the damage to property and save lives. He ordered Agricultural department officials to provide seeds to farmers with a subsidy of 80 per cent whoever lost the crop. Drones will be used to assess crop loss. (ANI)