Heavy rains battered several parts of Andhra Pradesh in the last couple of days, leaving at least 8 people dead and many others injured in different incidents so far. Few areas in Vijayawada city witnessed flood like situation and the highway connecting Hyderabad is reportedly submerged with water from all sides due to the ongoing depression in Bay of Bengal.
Unrelenting rains and massive downpour disrupted normal life and caused severe inconvenience to the people across the state. Tragic incidents have been reported from Vijayawada where boulders crashed into a home, killing four from the same family. In another incident, three people were washed away along with their car in Guntur district. Parts of Gudivada also received record rainfall. As per experts, this is the highest rainfall in the last 200 years.
The three districts of Coastal Andhra, many places of Krishna and Guntur bore the brunt of the torrential rains as normal life came to a standstill due to heavy water logging and traffic jams. The government advised people to stay indoors for at least another 24 hours and avoid venturing out.
Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu alerted authorities to stay vigil and ensure that disaster management is accorded top priority. He cancelled all his trips and closely monitored the situation. The government announced immediate relief of 5 lakhs to the kin of the deceased as compensation.
Each district is allotted 3 Crores exclusively for carrying out the rescue operations on war-footing basis.
The state has been witnessing incessant rains since last night, with many rivers, lakes and rivulets overflowing. Several bus stands, police stations and temples in Machilipatnam, Gudivada and Gannavaram areas are swamped with flood water.
State government has set up a Central Command Control in view of the heavy rains throughout the state. The command control is being supervised by 19 officials headed by CCLA Jayalakshmi. Command control rooms have also been set up in every district to face the deteriorating situation following the rains.
Schools remained closed on Saturday due to rainfall. Examinations scheduled on Saturday have been postponed to September 6.