AP faces another cyclone threat

Vijayawada: While the Andhra Pradesh Government is still struggling to reach the last mile of the affected people due to the cloudburst and never before the kind of rains that were witnessed in Krishna, Guntur, and other districts throwing life entirely out of gear, the IMD has warned of the possibility of another round of heavy rains or maybe even a cyclonic storm from Thursday.

According to the weather report an orange alert has been issued for Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam, and West Godavari districts. An orange alert is issued when there is a possibility of severe weather that could cause a threat to life and property due to either a cyclone or heavy downpour which may result in heavy inundation of several areas resulting in potential disruptions.

An orange alert is issued when rainfall is expected to range from 115.6–204.4 mm in a day. The big question now is to what extent is the government and district administration ready to face the situation. This is going to pose a great challenge for the state government. Normally the formation of cyclonic turfs from June to August moves towards West Bengal and Bangladesh. However, the depressions that are caused between September to November generally affect the southern states including Tamil Nadu and many coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh.

As of now, it is being said that the low pressure that has formed in the Vidarbha region has weakened but it does not mean that there will be no heavy rains in Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam, and Godavari districts. By Wednesday the picture would become more clear as to whether it would get converted into a cyclonic storm or not.

The general practice is that all states which are prone to cyclones allocate some budget to the irrigation department which reviews the status of various bunds and irrigation projects and takes up necessary repairs to meet any eventuality of cyclones or rains. But this did not happen in the last five years according to government records. This poses a challenging situation for the government, officials feel.