Heavy rains claim 5 lives

• 5 killed in Kadapa, Anantapur, Adilabad districts
• RTPP generation disrupted; water enters coal storage
• Control room set up at Kadapa District Collectorate

Kadapa/Anantapur/Adilabad: Heavy rains lashed the districts of Kadapa, Anantapur, Adilabad and Chittoor during the last 24 hours, as a low pressure area formed over the coastal Andhra Pradesh. Reports reaching here said five persons were killed. Crops suffered extensive damage in thousands of acres. Normal life was thrown out of gear due to heavy rains in these districts. It is said that parts of Rayalaseema received heaviest rains in over two decades. Depression in south-west of Bay of Bengal caused heavy showers.

According to Met officials, the maximum rainfall recorded in Vijayapuram was 125 mm followed by S R Puram (120 mm), Nagari (117 mm), Narayanavanam (111 mm), Tirupati-Perumallapalli (100 mm), Tamballapalli (92 mm) (western part of Chittoor district), Vadamalapet (87 mm), Satyavedu (77 mm), Palamaneru (76.8 mm), Arogyavaram (75 mm), Chittoor town (72 mm), Pakala (65 mm), Renigunta airport (43.2 mm) and Tirumala (27 mm).

Proddatur in Kadapa district received a record 21.5 cm of rainfall since Tuesday morning. Eight persons were stranded in the district while crossing the Kosinepalli stream which was in spate in Muddanur mandal. They were later rescued. Two women were washed away near Krishnanagar, close to the Rayalaseema Thermal Power Plant, according to Joint Collector Nirmala.

In Adilabad district, a couple was killed when lightning struck them while they were working in paddy fields near Sarangapur on Wednesday. Borranna (40) and his wife Muttavva (35) died instantly.

Heavy rain battered several villages in Chennur, Dilavarpur, Sarangapur and Kotapalli mandals in the district. In Anantapur district a farmer, Nagaraju (46), of Appalollapalle in Kothacheruvu mandal, was washed away in Chitravati river along with two bullocks, two cows and a cart.

Three persons identified as Sanjay, Narendra Reddy and Sudhir Reddy were washed away in the river at Tumparthi in Dharmavaram mandal on Wednesday, but they managed to grab a tree to save themselves. After hearing their cries, a rescue team saved them. Several streams and nalas in Kadapa district are overflowing. With Kalamalla and Kosinepalle villages flooded water entered houses. Many residents in desperation were forced to take shelter on the rooftops of buildings. Police and Revenue officials took up relief measures.

The officials ordered country boats to be brought from the Mylavaram reservoir in Jammalamadugu to move people to safer places. Jammalamadugu DRO Raghunath Reddy is supervising the relief work. Flood situation was serious in Channa mandal, with Mandavya river in spate. Thoroughfares were full of water and transport links were snapped.

Heavy flood water entered the Srinivas reservoir submerging the low-lying areas. This is causing severe hardship to the residents. Production of 1,050 mw in RTPP was stopped on Wednesday after flood water entered the coal storage facility. Restoration of the unit is likely to take two days. It may be delayed as the employees are involved in the Samaikyandhra agitation. Several districts besides the Rayalaseema region are likely to be affected following the disruption in RTPP generation. Meanwhile, a control room has been set up at the Kadapa District Collectorate, as part of the relief work under the supervision of the collector. The contact number is 08562-246344. A toll-free number, 1077, is set up for coordinating emergency relief works.