Tirupati: Eerie silence prevails after villagers move out to safe areas

Tirupati: An eerie silence prevailed at many villages after the residents moved out to safer areas following the orders of the authorities in the down reaches of Rayala Cheruvu while in other villages people were seen hurriedly coming out of their homes to go to relief centres and some transporting their cattle to other areas. Locked houses, cattle anxiously staring in some houses, fallen electric poles, debris and waste left behind the flash floods before they eased out and also deserted streets, temples and shops add more to the uneasy calm palpable in many village where people have already moved out to safety.

In Mullapudi, women and children were seen crossing a stream, with the help of a rope, wading through the gushing waters of Nakkavagu to reach Padipeta from where transport was arranged to go to Tirupati relief centre. In Padipeta Arundatiwada (Madigapalli), except few youth, all the residents left to Tirupati where they were sheltered in Padmavathi Nilayam while in Kuntrapakam though most of the left the village, many were found still in the village.

Discreet enquiries revealed that in many villages though the people are ready to leave the village for safety, they are hesitating as they have to first ensure care for their cattle including milch animals and sheep and goat they are rearing. "The authorities made arrangements for us in relief centres but who will take care of our animals that are feeding us,'' a farm labourer, who was busy in mounting his two cows on a mini truck in Padipeta said. But some villagers were able to take animals like goat or sheep with them to reach their relatives living in places like Tiruchanur as they are not ready to leave them behind.

With the authorities insisting on the villagers to move out as a precautionary measure in the villages facing threat, following the leakage of Rayala Cheruvu, they are making preparation to take the cattle to their relatives or friends in the nearby villages in safe areas like Brahmanapattu, Kothuru, Kayam to keep the animals with them till they return.

The well to do people in some villages are also reluctant to move out, leaving behind the costly household articles like furniture, electronic devices etc and are shuttling from their villages to city where they live with their relatives instead in relief centre and visit their homes to safeguard the house. People in many villages complained that no staff revenue, panchayat or police turned up on Monday to help them cross the over flowing cause ways, waterbodies to reach the point from where the buses were arranged.

In Padmavathi Nilayam also, many women said that they were worried about the cattle they left behind in their home and wanted the authorities to make required arrangements like feeding them or setting up a centre in safe area for sheltering them also till they return after normalcy. It may be noted that people from about 20 villages were ordered to leave their homes, after Rayala Cheruvu developed a leakage on Sunday. It is pertinent to note that substantial number of poor farm labourers, small and marginal farmers depending on sale of milk to add to their income for living in Chittoor district.