Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh has been battered by torrential rains that have left 21 people dead. Even as cyclone Phailin didn't lead to such loss of lives and widespread damage, rains have wreaked havoc across the state.
Over 68,000 people have been evacuated while Srikakulam and Mahbubnagar are the worst affected. Several dozen villages have been cut off. Reports say the crop damage is to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore.
The MeT department has predicted heavy rainfall for another 48 hours. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy reviewed the situation caused due to heavy rains at a high-level meeting in Hyderabad on Friday and directed the administration to carry out relief works on a war-footing.
The Chief Minister asked the administration to be alert and take all necessary measures to provide relief to affected people. Ten National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams reached the rain-ravaged districts and are engaged in relief operations.
Hundreds of houses were damaged in many districts not only in coastal Andhra but also in Telangana, rendering scores of people shelterless. Rivers are in spate while drains and tanks are overflowing, leaving towns and villages inundated.
"The situation is very grim as the entire Delta area is completely inundated. Drains and tanks are overflowing and there is a threat of breaches occurring at some places because of the nonstop rain," Guntur district Collector S Suresh Kumar said.
Six lift-irrigation scheme workers who were stuck in flood at Chilakaluripet and Yedlapadu since yesterday were rescued on Friday with the help of National Disaster Response Force personnel, the collector said.
The Krishna river is in spate with a heavy inflow of floodwater to Srisailam Dam and Nagarjuna Sagar downstream. While about 90,000 cusecs of flood water was being discharged from Nagarjuna Sagar by this evening, the outflow would increase once gates at the Srisailam Dam were opened, official sources said.
At the Prakasam Barrage in Vijayawada, downstream Nagarjuna Sagar, 70 crest gates were lifted to discharge 1.18 lakh cusecs (cubic feet per second) of water into the Bay of Bengal. Rivers like Bahuda, Nagavali and Vamsadhara in Srikakulam district are in spate after heavy floodwater flowed into them. The flood resulted in snapping of road communication in the district and also to neighbouring districts in Odisha, they said.
Andhra Pradesh's capital Hyderabad too has been battered by the deluge in the last three days. Hussain Sagar Lake in the heart of the city is full to the brim and the level may cross the danger mark if there is more rain, according to a press release from the Chief Minister's Office. South Central Railway General Manager PN Pandey informed the Chief Minister that some trains have been diverted and some slowed down.
The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) also had to cancel some bus services, particularly on routes covering cross streams and lakes as they were overflowing.
(With additional information from PTI)
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